White Noise
by IcyNirvana
Summary: A collection of one-shots on events that happen in between the chapters of my other story: A Legendary Game of Truth or Dare, plus maybe a few original ones
1. Death of a King

**{A/N} This is a chapter which fits in between chapters 19 and 20**

* * *

The door slammed shut, cutting off the three pokemon from the others.

"Please! Please listen to me! I'll be good, I swear. Believe me!" The one being dragged by the other two struggled.

"Pyro… you just don't understand or learn, do you?" One of them sighed, shaking her head slowly. The one being dragged, Pyro, a Zorua, looked at her in confusion.

"You need to be punished. You can't get away with doing evil forever" Arceus, seeing Pyro looking at her like that, explained.

"E-evil?! I don't do anything evil!" Pyro replied. The other one, Kyurem, snorted loudly.

"You do! And you'll be punished for it!" Arceus snapped and Kyurem made a motion like laughing. Pyro snarled

"You think I'll let you punish me easily?" Pyro hissed

"Think for a second, what are you going to do? You. Are. Powerless." Arceus hissed right back at him. Pyro then took a second to actually think like she had said

"That's right, you are powerless" Arceus whispered again. Kyurem nodded in agreement, licking his lips.

"W-what are you going to do with m-me?" Pyro whimpered, now realising that he was at their utter mercy. Arceus then grinned

"Oh, so you finally admit that there's no way out. I'll tell you, you will be punished, and you will be changed forever" she said casually

"I-I haven't done anything b-bad!"

"Ask yourself, how many humans and pokemon have you misled, hurt, killed?"

"N-not a lot. But they were necessary!"

"So you deny it. Either that you can't remember. Let me jog your memory" Arceus's eyes then started to glow as she mentally showed visions and pictures of different pokemon. Pyro was overwhelmed with many visions of various beings, including an elderly man, two Eevee's, a Dragonair, an Umbreon, a Meowstic, an Absol, and a young girl, to name a few.

A few minutes of this later, Pyro started sobbing. Arceus started grinning

"You see?"

"Please make it stop!"

"As you wish. But I'll make more than just the vision stop" Arceus's eyes stop glowing.

"I-I-"

"What was your reason?" she then asked, this time her voice was gentler, genuinely feeling pity for him, seeing him sob like a baby.

"What?"

"What's your reason for doing that?"

"I… … … … I don't know" Pyro mumbled out as he found out that he can't remember why he did all those things

"Do you regret it?"

"Yes! Yes, I regret it now!"

"Then allow me, I will grant you the ultimate cleansing" Arceus told him gently. Kyurem growled audibly.

"Y-you're going to kill me, a-aren't you?"

"Yes"

"Can you at l-least make it q-quick?" Pyro sniffed

"Very well. But know that this act of mercy is more than you gave to others" Arceus sighed and Pyro nodded. She then conjured up a seed of sorts and handed it to him

"This is a Sleep Seed. Eat this, and you'll be sleeping in no time. You won't feel a thing"

Pyro accepted the seed and ate it. He then instantly felt drowsy and started swaying on his feet. _At last… At last this will be over. No more problems, no more pain. Just peace… Luna, I hope I'll get to see you soon. I love you, forever and ever._ After a moment, he slumped onto his side, dead asleep.

"And now… Kyurem, do it" Arceus said as she looked away, "I just want you to understand who you are… and help you change, Pyro"

She winced as she heard the sound of bones snapping, caused by Kyurem stomping onto Pyro's tail. Kyurem growled a bit as he bit Pyro's throat and tore it, killing him immediately. He then moved on and bit down on the Zorua's midsection, crushing the ribs, puncturing the heart and lungs, and also spraying blood everywhere; just to make sure that he is dead. Arceus winced as a few blood droplets hit her fur. Kyurem then stood up and walked over to her, before gesturing to the door.

"Done?" Arceus asked. He nodded in reply. They then headed towards the door again. Suddenly, Arceus had a thought that chilled her to the bone: _How would I explain this to Aqua? Pyro's gone so he wouldn't be able to tell him that I am only helping him… … … Shiiiiiiit_


	2. Return Journey

**{A/N} This chapter also takes place between chapters 19 and 20, a while after the last one**

* * *

A red door that leads into a black room of the mansion is only opened about three times a day. Aqua did not like visitors, only he stays in the room with the bedridden Zorua. The maids, butlers, gardeners, cooks and others in the mansion did and said little more than what was compulsory. Aqua had been in a foul mood since he came back, snapping at every little thing that went wrong or not to his liking.

Pyro had died by the hands of Arceus and Kyurem some time ago, and was reborn. The process was not pretty for those who watched, which was Aqua and Sylvy. It included the break-down of what was left of Pyro, then reformation. The break-down part was a bit explosive as energy was released when his body changed into air, from solid to gas; the process of reformation was gentler, but still weird seeing as his body was reformed atom by atom, particle by particle. When the process was finished, Pyro was unconscious and Aqua took him to their mansion, into Pyro's room. He had ordered that no-one was to enter the room unless given permission. Aqua did not leave the room at all since he went in, receiving food and water from the butlers who brought it up to him.

Sylvy occasionally visits and they would often sit together, watching the unconscious Zorua in silence or sometimes making small conversions.

"Sylvy?"

"Yes?"

"What should I do?"

"What do you mean?"

"I know he will still be my brother… but I don't know what would be of him. There must be consequences of rebirth but I cannot remember"

"I don't know, Aqua. All we can do is wait and prepare for the worst" Sylvy sighed.

"What should I do after he wakes up? Introduce myself? Tell him about himself? Or should I wait for Pyro to speak first, to see his mental state since we can already see the physical?"

"We'll see. And if it so happens that he does not remember anything at all, should we make him start anew? A new leaf, or rather, a new flame?" Sylvy chuckled and Aqua smiled at the slight joke. There was then a knock on the door,

"Lord Aqua" he heard.

"Come in" Aqua ordered. An Arcanine came in

"Arno, what is wrong?" Aqua asked. This was the first time another person other than Sylvy had come into the room because of a reason other than to serve the food.

"There are guests at the main gate, sir"

"Who?"

"Told us that their names are Elric and Chrome"

"Daddy? And Chrome?" Sylvy inquired

"Tell them I'm busy" Aqua replied. Arno bowed and left the room.

"I should go… it's getting late. Sleep well, Aqua" Sylvy then left the room and ran to catch up with her father outside. Aqua watched her leave the room before lying down on a folding bed next to Pyro's bed and looked at the sleeping Zorua.

"So, not a very eventful day, is it brother? … … Yeah, just like the other days. I really want you back, you seem to make everything exciting and more enjoyable. Haaaah, you look so peaceful asleep, you know that? … … Maybe you'll wake up tomorrow, eh?" Aqua talked to him, pausing as if waiting for him to answer. He then closed his eyes and went to sleep.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

The next day, Aqua woke up early as usual

"Morning Pyro" He yawned, not expecting an answer as usual. He was then very surprised to hear a groan from Pyro followed by a little muttering. Aqua actually fell down onto his rear in shock

"Pyro?!" He gasped but there was no response. He rushed out of the room, something he didn't do in quite some time now.

"Lord Aqua?" Arno, who was approaching the door with a tray of food before it burst open, voiced in surprise.

"Arno! Get me a phone" Aqua quickly said. Arno raised an eyebrow but didn't question anything, he pulled out a cell phone and handed it to Aqua. Aqua quickly punched in a number and held it to his ear. Arno just went into Pyro's room to place the tray of food in before coming back out to Aqua, who was on the phone.

"Sylvy? … Yeah, I think he's awake! … No, no, he's still sleeping but he's out of that unconsciousness phase thing… Okay… Okay, I'll see you here in ten minutes… bye" Aqua hung up and handed the phone back to Arno

"Is something the matter, lord Aqua?" Arno asked as he pocketed the phone. Aqua gave a smile as bright as the sun,

"It's Pyro! He's going to wake up soon! I'm so excited and nervous"

"Is that so? Well I am also truly happy for you, my lord" He bowed and left. Aqua then went back to his room and occupied the chair next to Pyro's bed, taking the food tray in the process. He sat staring at Pyro while slowly munching on the scones on his plate. Occasionally poking or calling the Zorua's name to see if he is awake.

"Is he awake?" Sylvy suddenly burst into the room just as Aqua finished off his breakfast,

"No, not yet" Aqua replied.

A few more hours of idle conversations later, they heard a loud groan from Pyro.

"Pyro!" They both shouted, standing up. The Zorua opened his eyes, blinked twice, and sat up slowly.

"Pyro, you're awake!" They shouted again.

"Ugh… Oh God…" Pyro moaned as he clutched his head. He then noticed the two next to his bed and smiled

"Hello! Who might you two be?"

 _'Oooooooh, shit'_ they both thought at that moment.

"I-I'm your brother! I'm your brother, Aqua! Remember?" Aqua nervously stated

"Brother Aqua? Really? And who am I?"

"You're Pyro! We're twin brothers!"

"Oh, okay! And who are you?" Pyro then turned to Sylvy

"I'm Sylvy! Your fiancé!" Aqua slapped Sylvy lightly, "Okay, okay. I'm your good friend with benefits!" Aqua glanced at Sylvy but said nothing

"Okay… Aqua, Sylvy… I'm hungry!"

"Of course you would be. Let's go find something to eat!" Aqua told him. Pyro jumped up and ran excitedly out of the room.

"He's going to get lost, isn't he?" Sylvy asked

"Yeah he is. We'll have to go find him now"

"What do we do now? Tell him about his past? Or stay silent?"

"We stay silent" Aqua answered with confidence, "I want him to live a happier life"

"I knew you would say that" Sylvy smiled and walked out of the room to find Pyro. Aqua followed, nodding to Arno, who was standing shocked at the doorway.


	3. Love is

**{A/N} This happens between chapters 24 and 25**

* * *

Mew led the Zorua into her room. The Zorua, Pyro, looked around the pink room and noticed that there are next to no decorations at all. The room was almost stripped to the bare essentials. A bed; a dining table with chairs; a coffee table with couches and beanbags and a door leading to the bathroom. One corner of the room was converted to a mini-kitchen.

Both of them sat on the couch. As soon as the door shut, he started noticing a slightly weird smell but disregarded it as nothing.

"So… what do you want to talk about, Mew?" Pyro asked, tilting his head. Mew didn't reply, instead staring at him in silence. "Mew?" Mew shook her head to snap herself out of her trance.

"Yeah?"

"What do you want to talk about?"

"Well… I think you've found out that you were reborn, didn't you?"

"Yeah… Yeah, I think I was."

"Um. Do you perhaps… remember anything? Anything in your past life? Anything about… us?" Mew asked, looking off to the side shyly. Pyro was even more confused.

"Nothing? W-was there anything that I should've remembered?"

Pyro closed his eyes and tried his hardest to remember. He then had an idea and thought in his head,

 _'Mister Void?'_

 ** _'What do you want now, brat?'_** came the reply, sounding tired.

 _'Do you remember anything about our past life?'_

 ** _'Don't say 'our', you and I are totally different and I don't want to be combined with you when being referred to. And no, I don't remember anything. Now shut up.'_**

 _'Nothing at all?'_

 ** _'No means no.'_**

 _'Are you sure? Just anything, even small-'_

 ** _'I said NO, brat! It will mean the same even if I say it a million times! Now shut up!'_**

 _'Okay. Bye!'_ Pyro opened his eyes to see Mew's large, blue eyes inches in front of him. He yelped in surprise and jumped slightly.

"Pyro? Are you alright? You suddenly zoned out."

"Yeah, I'm alright. I just tried to remember something but I couldn't. Nothing at all, sorry."

"O-oh…" Mew looked down.

"Um, Mew?"

"Yeah?"

"You asked if I remember anything about us. What were we? Like, what was our relationship before?"

"W-well…" Mew trailed off, seemingly absorbed into her reminiscing. Pyro patiently waited until she shook herself out of yet another trance. "We were pretty much mates. You and I love each other very much."

"Mates? Love?" Pyro repeated. _'There's that word again. What is love? I just can't seem to figure it out,'_ he thought.

"Yes. We were."

"'Were'? Why can't we still be?" Pyro questioned. Mew looked up expectantly, her eyes gleaming.

"Yeah... That's true. I still love you." Mew suddenly closed her eyes and leaned forwards. Pyro knew she was going to kiss him and looked around nervously and awkwardly, trying to decide the course of action.

 _'Mister Void? Help!'_

 ** _'What now?'_** the replying voice grumbled.

 _'Mew misunderstood me! I was asking what was different about the old me and the current me and now she's going to kiss me. What do I do?'_

 ** _'Yer screwed, brat. You're on your own. And don't you dare wake me when you two are fucking each other's brains out.'_**

Pyro knew Void was not going to answer any more. Well… he was pretty antisocial anyways. He finally decided to just 'go with the flow' and do whatever Mew wants.

* * *

 **{Song start: Before I met you - No Game No Life OST}**

* * *

He leaned forwards and let Mew kiss him. Instantly, he felt like he was soaring in the sky and through the clouds, over the stars. He felt like he had everything, and could do anything. It was truly an extraordinarily incredible feeling. He felt an entirely new sensation once they pulled back and looked at each other.

"So… do you now know what love is?" she asked. Her voice was now as smooth as silk, calm enough to pacify even the most violent of storms. He nodded, enchanted by her voice and her gaze. "And do you love me?"

 _'Is this what love is?'_ he asked himself, still unsure. _'Is this how it feels to love someone?'_

Mew apparently caught on to his confusion and asked him, "What does it feel like?"

"It feels… Warm… Comfortable… Calm…" he listed before whispering, "It feels like… love."

"There you go," she whispered, hugging him tightly.

 _'The reason I couldn't find the meaning of love is probably because it is indescribable. It's a feeling, a special one. I can't even fully describe it even though I think I'm experiencing it. Love is weird… in a good way,'_ he mused, his confused frown curled into a smile. Mew picked this up and also smiled,

"Well?"

"I love you, Mew," he whispered.

"And I love you too, Pyro. Never stopped and never will stop." They both sat in silence, cuddling.

* * *

 **{Song end}**

* * *

Pyro stirred. He rubbed his eyes with his paws before sitting up. He looked around and saw himself alone in Mew's room. Pyro made a confused hum before jumping off the couch.

 _In the Hall of Origin_

"I fold." Lugia set down his cards on the table. Him, Giratina and Zekrom were playing poker to kill some time while waiting for something – anything – to happen.

"By the way, Giratina," Zekrom said, looking up from his own cards.

"Yeah? What is it?"

"You're about to lose."

"Why would you think that? Maybe I have better cards than you."

"No, not the poker. But the bet we made earlier. I just remembered something."

"What is it?"

"Mew's in heat."

"Aw hell no! Why didn't you say that before we made the bets?!"

"I just remembered."

"Dammit! Can I call the bet off?"

"Nu-uh. Get ready to pay up because Pyro's totally getting laid, whether he wants to or not." Zekrom and Lugia laughed and high-fived each other while Giratina silently fumed, contemplating locking them up in the Distortion World when Arceus was not looking.

* * *

 _Back with Pyro_

The weird smell he caught before came back stronger than ever. His nose twitched at the intoxicatingly sweet scent and his mouth watered. _'Sweets? Mew has sweets? I want some!'_ he naively thought. He followed his trusty nose towards a door - not the one that led to the hallway - and sniffed around it. The scent was stronger there.

"Mew?" he called out. "Can I have some sweets too?"

"Sweets? I don't have- Uh… Ah… Yeah, sweets! Come in!" Pyro casually nudged open the door and poked his head inside. His head felt dizzy once the overpowering smell assaulted his little nose. He recoiled in surprise at the smell but continued on and pushed through into the room, noticing that it was pretty bare, without much furniture. Just an empty room. What could Mew be doing here with tons of sweets?

"Mew?" No response. He walked further and to the middle of the room. Pyro then heard the door behind him close and swivelled around to see Mew. "You have sweets?"

"Oh, you'll definitely get something sweet." She gave a lusty grin and licked her lips before tackling Pyro to the floor.

* * *

 _Outside Mew's room, hallway_

Arceus was trying to find Giratina to 'play' with. She walked down the hallway, hoping to find the Lord of the Distortion World in his room. Passing Mew's room, she heard noises coming from inside. She stopped to listen.

"Not sweets! Th-that's definitely n-not s-sweets! N-no… Stop! M-Mew, stop…. Stop… Wh-what are you d-doing? Mew…" Pyro's cries soon turned into incomprehensible moans and whimpers of pleasure. Arceus sniffed the air and found the scent of Mew's heat. She contemplated helping Pyro out but then shrugged and walked on, wanting to find Giratina quickly now.

 _'Better not to interrupt their time together. I'd hate it if someone interrupted me and Giratina's time.'_

* * *

 _Later on, with Aqua_

"Where _is_ he?" Aqua asked, agitated. "He said he would come back before dinner."

"Relax, he'll come back. He'll miss you more than you miss him," Sylvy calmly replied.

"I guess that is true…"

The mansion's door in front of them suddenly opened and Pyro came stumbling in.

"Pyro! What happened? You look terrible!" Aqua rushed over to support his brother, who looked about ready to collapse. "Your fur is matted everywhere and why are you wet?"

"Aqua?"

"Yes, Sylvy?"

"Let Pyro speak."

"Well? Pyro?" Aqua urged, desperate to know what made him look so beaten up.

"I-I'm not ready…" he whispered.

"For what?" Aqua grabbed his brother's face and shook it to snap him out of the trance-like state. "Ready for what?"

"I'm not r-ready to be a f-father," the black fox shivered and fainted from exhaustion.

"I think I know what happened now," Sylvy whispered to Aqua.

"Tell me," he replied, slinging the now unconscious Zorua onto his back.

"Well… He said he's not ready to be a father, right?" Aqua nodded. "Mew was in heat and well… they were alone in her room for quite some time. You'd think that they'd… y'know?"

Aqua stared at her before realization struck across his face. He quickly changed forms and flew straight to the Hall of Origin.

* * *

 _At Hall of Origin_

Aqua burst into Mew's room, slamming the door shut behind him. He saw Mew stirring in her bed, a suspicious patch of whitened fur between her legs.

"Aqua?" Mew mumbled, rubbing her eyes with her paw. "What's going on?" Aqua grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her, much like he did with Pyro.

"What'd you do to him?!"

"H-huh? What do you mean?"

"Did you- What- Pyro- You…- What happened when Pyro was in here?!" Mew was suddenly awake instantly. She blushed and seemed to be lost in her daydream. Aqua snapped his fingers in front of Mew's face to wake her out of her trance. "What. Did. You. Do?"

"W-well… we… we…" was all Mew got out before breaking down into tears. "I'm sorry Aquaaaaa! I'm so sorry! I- I couldn't help it! I was in heat!"

Aqua sighed and buried his face in his paws, shaking it slowly. "So I take it that you now bear eggs?"

"Y-yeah…" she looked down in shame. Aqua sighed yet again.

"Well… Pyro isn't all that ready to be a father yet. So I'll help both of you to take care of the eggs once it arrives."

"You will?"

"Absolutely."

"Thank you, Aqua… Thank you very much..."

"Hey, I've got to take care of my brother's child too. Can't leave it to you two alone."

* * *

 **{A/N} Sorry, not sorry**


	4. Misconception

**{A/N} This occurs between chapters 25 and 26**

* * *

Five pokemon walked down the empty, white corridor of the Hall of Origin, heading to a room of one legendary. There were two Zorua's, two Mew's and a Floatzel.

"Where are we going? Aren't we going to see her?" one of the Zorua asked as they walked along the corridors.

"We're going to the room of Giratina, he'll take us to meet her." The Floatzel, Aqua, turned to look at Pyro, the Zorua.

"Daddy~!" The smaller Zorua giggled and nuzzled Pyro. Pyro turned and smiled back,

"You alright there, Luna?"

"Yeah!" Pyro then turned to one of the Mew's,

"And how are you doing, Cloud?" He was referring to the smaller Mew, who was still looking at the slight tint of grey on the tip of his tail. He had been staring at it once he discovered it was not normal.

"When will we get there?"

"Soon, Cloud, be patient," the final pokemon, Mew, replied calmly. They all continued to walk down the hallway until they approached a black, grim-looking door with an old-fashioned door knocker in the shape of a snake. Luna and Cloud shivered, scared by the appearance of the door and the type of pokemon who could be behind it.

"We're here," Aqua announced as he grabbed the door-knocker and struck the door with it.

"Come in!" the muffled voice yelled from inside, quietened by the large, thick door. They pushed open the door to reveal Giratina and Arceus inside.

"Oh my, Luna, Cloud!" Arceus squealed and ran up to them. "You two are such cuties!"

"Thanks!" Luna wagged her tail. Cloud just looked away to the side shyly.

"Giratina, we've come for a request. You know what it is," Aqua informed the Renegade Pokemon, who nodded slowly.

"Arcy, could you please leave for a bit? I'll get you in your room when we're done."

"I'll be waiting," she replied, giving the two children a brief smile before disappearing down the corridor.

"So… You want to see Luna again?"

"Me?" Luna's head tilted in confusion.

"No… Luna the Umbreon who died," Aqua replied.

"Y-you mean, a-a ghost?!" Cloud's eyes widened in fear. Giratina closed his eyes and mumbled prayers and chants, ignoring all of them. They saw wisps of white colour floating in front of Giratina before it swirled together, creating a vague image of an Umbreon. Cloud flew behind Mew, peering out slowly. Soon, a perfect image of an Umbreon was formed. The image slowly gained colour, first a very pale colour, then a more deepened colour.

"So this is… Luna?" Pyro asked Aqua, who nodded once. As soon as the colour became a natural shade, the Umbreon's eyes opened.

"Pyro!" the Umbreon, Luna, yelled before tackling him down onto the floor.

"Whoa, whoa, Luna. Calm down," Aqua said, placing a paw on the Umbreon's back.

"What took you so long?!" Luna yelled in Pyro's face, making the children run behind Mew and Aqua for protection.

"Luna!" Aqua yelled to get her attention. It worked, she gave Pyro a harsh-yet-playful glare before looking up at Aqua. "Uh… there's something you need to know…" Luna looked at Pyro before looking back,

"What is it?"

"The Pyro you know is already dead." Aqua hated it, he hated saying it. Words cannot describe how much he hated saying that, admitting that, conceding to that fact. But nothing compared to what the poor Umbreon felt. Aqua knew this would hit her hard, but did not want to sugar-coat the fact, it might make the reaction worse than it would be if he told her up front.

"Wh-what?" she said, slowly moving off Pyro and towards Aqua, "What d-did you say?"

"I'm sorry. But the old Pyro is dead…"

"Th-That can't be! Simply not possible! He's there!" Luna pointed at the Pyro, who was getting up, with a paw, "Right there! He can't be dead!"

"It's true," Mew solemnly said. The children looked around in confusion, Pyro? That was their father, wasn't it? Their father was not dead, was he? The Umbreon's right, father is right there!

"It can't be… it cannot be. He's not dead, he can't die. Not so soon," the Umbreon muttered to herself, trying to convince herself that this was all just a bad dream among dreams. Pyro certainly did not die of old age, and nothing could be powerful enough to kill the Pyro she knew. "It's not true. This must be a joke, right? Pyro's not dead! He's not! C'mon guys, tell me it's a joke! He's not dead, is he? Where are you hiding him-?"

"I'm so sorry, Luna, but it is." Luna stared at the ground in silence for a bit.

"Who killed him then? Was it you?" she whispered quietly.

"What?" Aqua leaned in so he could hear better, he flinched back quickly when Luna almost bit his head off.

"Was it _you_?" she snarled, growling loudly. She then turned to Mew and the kids, "Or was it one of you?!"

"L-Luna? Calm down-" Aqua tried to calm her down.

"It was one of you guys, wasn't it?! Nobody else could have taken Pyro down! Nobody! It _must_ be one of you then! Why did you come here? To taunt me? To gloat? What?!" she yelled in her rage, "And to think… that I trusted you, Mew. How foolish was I?"

Mew's eyes widened in shock, "I didn't-"

"SHUT UP!" Luna screeched, "Just shut up. I don't want to hear another word from any of you, you monstrous murderers."

Giratina looked at the conflicting group with pity, he had seen this type of scenario before. The deaths of loved ones can cause such trauma that the grieving detached themselves from the world entirely, trusting no one and doubting everyone. The children started crying softly. Seeing the adults arguing and Pyro looking from side to side with confusion, Giratina moved over to comfort the children. No matter how it seemed, he loved children; playing with them brought him joy and relaxed him. Symbols of new life, ones who don't truly understand the world but enjoy it nonetheless.

* * *

 ** _Song start: Tabi no Tochuu (Spice & Wolf)_**

* * *

"Come on, Cloud, Luna." He ushered them away from the yelling adults. It was just after he said that that he felt a piercing glare behind him.

"Yes. Bring me back. I don't want to stay with these pokemon any longer, and do not bring me back here again," Luna, the Umbreon, said to Giratina. Giratina shook his head,

"Sorry, I was talking to the children."

"You said my name, didn't you?"

"My name's Luna," the young daughter sobbed quietly. Silence reigned the room for a few seconds.

"Wh-what?" The Umbreon hissed, taking a large step towards the small Zorua.

"Don't you dare hurt Luna!" Cloud flew in front, intent on protecting his sister even though he was shaking from fear on the inside.

"Who are they?" Luna asked to nobody in particular. When there was no answer, she yelled, "I said, who are they?!"

"They're my children…" Pyro answered quietly, looking down.

"Pyro?"

"We named Luna after you. When Pyro, this reborn Pyro, heard about you, he was intent on naming a daughter after you, if we had one. He was also the one who wanted this meeting with you," Mew answered meekly.

"Reborn?"

"You don't know the legendaries' life cycle, do you?" Aqua asked.

"Do I look like I know?" she snarled. Aqua motioned for her to sit down. While they were talking, Giratina brought Luna, the Zorua, and Cloud away to talk to them and perhaps play a few games with them.

Aqua explained how, if a legendary were to die, they would be reborn instead of being gone forever like normal pokemon. The only way they can actually die is if they had a child and if they died before the child.

It was complicated, but with some time, he managed to make Luna understand.

"So… Pyro's not actually dead?"

"In a way, his physical body is still here. Just his memories are gone, nothing else."

"So… the Pyro I know is… gone?" Luna sniffed, "Forever?"

"I'm afraid that's the fate we all go through in the end." Aqua closed his eyes and laid back. Luna slowly looked over to Pyro, who whined and flinched back in fear for her wrath.

"I-I'm sorry! I can't remember anything at all. Please don't hurt me, I still have to take care of Cloud and Lu-" He was stopped when Luna placed a paw on his head, smiling a bittersweet smile.

"Shh… I understand now. From what I heard, you aren't supposed to remember either. So relax… I won't hurt you, Pyro, never." She sniffed again. Tears began welling up in her eyes. Pyro smiled back slightly and nuzzled Luna to comfort her. Mew stood back with Aqua, watching the scene.

The children, seeing that Luna the Umbreon had calmed down and would not be likely to attack them, ran from Giratina over to her. Cloud, however, still stood in front of his sister just to be sure.

"Miss Luna!" Luna said, before noticing the teardrops on Luna's face, "Miss Luna? Why are you crying?"

"You-You two are Pyro's children, are you not?" her voice croaked. Both of them nodded slowly. "Luna, right?" Luna nodded and smiled, "And you are… Cloud?" Cloud nodded again. The Umbreon took her paw off Pyro's head and hugged the two children. "Sorry for scaring you earlier. Take care of Pyro, your father, yeah? Don't get into too much trouble. And take care of Mew, your mother, too. Can you promise me that?"

"Promise!" The two cheerfully said.

"Good." Luna rubbed the two's heads. Aqua stood up and walked over to them,

"Aqua… I'm sorry. For your loss and for earlier on when I accused-" Luna gulped, and sniffed, "Accused you of k-killing Pyro…"

"I don't hold it against you, don't worry, _sister_ ," Aqua smiled warmly. Luna smiled bitterly. She then turned to Mew.

"I'm so sorry, Mew. I shouldn't have said the things I did. It was uncalled for… I… I trust you. Entirely. I was wrong to say that. Sorry." Luna bowed her head so low, almost touching the floor. Mew looked at her,

"No, no. I'm sorry for you, your loss. I know how it feels, to lose someone you love. There is no need to be sorry." Mew lifted Luna's head up.

"Pyro." Luna said. Her voice, Pyro thought, so soothing, like Mew's. Feels like… mother? Who was my mother? Is she out there somewhere? No, that doesn't matter now. Not right now… Pyro nuzzled into her fur, like a kit would do to its mother.

"Take care of yourself. Take care of Mew. I'm sure Luna and Cloud would grow up to be fantastic pokemon, with you being their father and Mew their mother. I'll be going now; I need time to compose myself…" She kissed him on the forehead one last time, turned around and walked towards Giratina, who was waiting patiently.

"Is that it?" Giratina asked. Luna nodded before turning again to look at the group.

"Farewell. I'll be waiting for your next visit. Come anytime!" With that, she disappeared whence she came from, her slightly translucent body turning into wisps of colour before fading away with a smile. A faded memory, Pyro thought to himself, I remember I was crying… She came to comfort me. I faked sleeping but she saw right through it. Then… what next? What happened after she came to me? I can't remember… Dammit, why can't I remember anything?

"Well… There you go… Luna the Umbreon, the one you met on your journey, Pyro." Aqua whispered. Together, all of them thanked Giratina before leaving silently. Unable to forget what just happened.

* * *

 ** _Song end_**


	5. Fallout

**Between chapter 25-26**

* * *

"Nobody's here?" I asked, surprised.

"I'm afraid not, Lady Mew." The Arcanine butler, Arno, bowed to me. "Lord Aqua and Lord Pyro has gone somewhere just a few moments before you arrived."

"It's alright, I'll go find them." I turned around and flew away. Usually one of them is always in the house. Is there a game of Truth or Dare in the Hall of Origin right now? Am I missing it? I hope so, don't want to do any more dares.

As I flew around, looking for a place to go, I found myself hovering over a familiar place. Why not? It's been a long time. I flew over to where Pyro buried Luna, the Umbreon, not Zorua of course. The moment I landed, a chilly breeze blew through, rustling my fur. The trees waved in the wind, as if greeting me.

"Hey there, Luna. How are you coping? I'll have Pyro meet you again soon, so don't worry about it. Maybe this time you can play with Cloud and Luna too, they really like you, y'know?"

I laid down under the tree, looking over the pond. This is really a nice place; I haven't really taken the time to appreciate the tranquillity of it before. Truly a nice place Pyro found. I was soon asleep.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Nobody's home?"

"I'm afraid not, Sylvy. Lady Mew just came and then went away to find them. Would you like to leave a message for them though?" Arno asked, tilting his head slightly to the side.

"Oh, never mind. Thank you for the offer though." I walked away. Such a polite Arcanine he was. I walked down the road, heading in the general direction of my own house. Everything was tranquil, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Good day, today. I wonder if Mom made anything to eat yet? Did papa come home from work yet?

I frowned. Papa was always working nowadays; he didn't really spend much time at home. I know he needs to work for the money but this is just too much. He wasn't even there for little Flora's evolution some eighteen months ago, for goodness' sake! The poor guy must have been heartbroken inside.

The train of thought led me to the day of my evolution. I think I evolved at the same time as Espi did. That's right, I did. Espi and I had a massive fallout when she accidentally blew up the wall connecting my room with hers. What was that Eevee doing anyways? It was days before we finally made up. When we did, both of us evolved, from the happiness, I guess. To this day, I still don't know why she evolved into an Espeon and I a Sylveon.

A very cold breeze blew through, I shivered. The temperature suddenly felt like it dropped by ten degrees. Alright, this is definitely unnatural. I looked left and right, nothing out of the ordinary, no pokemon. I turned around and saw an Ice Beam speeding right towards me. I didn't have any time to scream.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

I woke up cold. How long did I sleep? Was it night already? I groggily flew up… only to hit a roof. Wait, roof? I rubbed my eyes to wake myself up and looked around. I panicked when I saw that I am in a cage, inside a cluttered warehouse. I slowly calmed myself down. I can get out. I am Mew. One of the strongest Psychic pokemon in the world. I reached my mind out to try and blow open the cage but was shocked when I can't find the cage when using my Psychic powers.

Let me explain, if you are confused. When I use my Psychic powers, I 'see' things around me even if my eyes are closed. With that, I can manipulate objects or living beings. However, I cannot affect a dark-type pokemon or-

"That cage is infused with a dark-type pokemon's powers. You will not be able to break out of there." Yep. I can't do anything with objects that are infused with dark powers. I looked around and saw a human male walking towards me. "You can talk, by the way. I have a translator," he said, tapping his ear.

"What do you want?" I hissed. He looked around in mockery, as if there were other people around him,

"What do _I_ want? Well, what everybody wants, of course. A good pokemon." I can see the greed in his eyes but it feels like he doesn't only want to capture me. I continued to stare at him. "Right, I don't just want you, Mew. I know you are a powerful one among the legendary pokemon. You're going to lead me to the Shadow Mew or the Light Mew. They're the grand prize."

"They're myths. There is no Shadow Mew or Light Mew." I can't tell him about Pyro. Because of Luna the Zorua, he can now die. If he does, then he's gone forever. I can't have that. I need to protect them. This is just one human; I can deal with him. I can hold out and not say anything.

"Aw, don't lie now. I know they exist. What were their names?" he assumed a thinking pose, "Oh, right! Pyro and Aqua!" He stared straight at me as my face betrayed my shock. How did this human know that? "I want to know where they are. It's simple. You tell me and I'll even let you go."

"Who told you about them?"

"I did." Another figure rounded the corner. The temperature seemed to drop a few degrees as this being entered. My eyes widened as I recognize who it was. Kyurem. But what cause me even more fear was the fact that he, in one hand, was holding Sylvy by the ears and was holding a pair of shears in the other. It did not take a Psychic pokemon to figure out what the human-pokemon duo planned on doing. Sylvy had her mouth taped shut, her ribbons taped together tightly, and her legs shackled together. She was looking at me pleadingly.

"Sylvy!" I turned to look at Kyurem, "You. Wasn't it enough that you killed Pyro once already?"

"Ah, but now, if I kill him, he will be gone forever, will he not?" he spoke. It mattered little to me that Kyurem actually spoke a full sentence, the rage was clouding my mind.

"What do you have against him anyways?!" I shouted. He shrugged coolly as he passed Sylvy and the shears to the hands of the human.

"I look forward to hearing where Pyro is from you, Mew," with that, he walked out of the room.

"So… Are you going to tell me the location?" the human asked.

"Never." I cannot risk Pyro, and possibly our children, in Kyurem's grasp.

"Are you really going to make me do this?" he sighed. He set Sylvy down on a table, making sure the shackles prevented her from getting up or moving around wildly. He grabbed the taped ribbon feelers and held them up, "C'mon, tell me."

"No."

 _Snip_

The tip of the ribbons was cut and dropped onto the table. Blood began seeped out where it was severed. Sylvy's face contorted in pain as she continued looking at me.

"Tell. Me. Tell me where the Shadow Mew is!" he yelled at me.

"I can't!"

 _Snip_

A longer length of the ribbons was cut and it, too, dropped onto the table. More blood dripped down her feelers and onto her head. She was obviously trying to scream but the tape across her mouth prevented it.

"I can't tell you where he is!" I yelled back at the human.

The rest of the feelers was severed off and rested on the table in a growing pool of blood. Sylvy was now thrashing as much as she could, eyes clouding over with tears. The human grabbed her right ear next, stopping her head from moving around too much. He positioned the bloody shears next to the ear and raised an eyebrow at me.

"I don't know where he is!"

 _Snip_

Off came the tip of her ear.

"He was gone when I tried to find him, I don't know where he is! He lives-"

"I don't need where he lives. I need where he is _now_. You just said that he wasn't there."

 _Snip_

Another bloody piece of flesh fell onto the table.

"He's by Lavaridge!"

"Lies."

 _Snip_

The screaming and pleading didn't help as he continued on with his shears. Sylvy's emotions seem to change from fear to desperation to acceptance. She looked at me with desperate eyes but I couldn't do anything.

I just watched.

I fell into some sort of trance, stuck in my own thoughts and watching Sylvy suffer. She didn't deserve this. I want to help but I can't. If Kyurem was not involved, then maybe the human knowing Pyro's location may not be so dangerous. But as it stands, Pyro's as good as dead if I tell him. I so wanted to help, Sylvy's a good pokemon, very nice, very kind to everyone, a very sweet pokemon. She definitely did not deserve this. The torture stopped when she passed out from blood loss.

She was left in the pool of blood on the table, unconscious but still alive, while the human went away, probably to clean his hands and the shears. I was sitting with my back against one of the bars of the cage. How did it all come to this?

Time passed, I did not have a clue how long. When I heard the warehouse's door open again. I faintly remember looking up and seeing a pokemon. The pokemon entered and looked around, flying. The moment it saw Sylvy, I heard every lightbulb, every window, every glass shatter. I felt the overwhelming Psychic power, in the form of a wave, roll over me. I recognise it: Aquanis Lychinus. The Light Mew. I saw his eyes burn golden.

 _Smash_

The cage was cracked open when he used a move, I couldn't see what it was though. I did remember him doing a quick scan of my recent memories. Everything was a blur. The human and Kyurem entered hastily. Aqua saw them. Aqua used Metal Claw, three blades came out of his paw. He stabbed the human through the chest, killing him instantly. Kyurem fired off an Ice Beam but it was deflected. Aqua stabbed Kyurem too, straight through his head. The blood. Oh God, the blood. I saw red for a second before it all faded to black.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

I woke up in a bed. The ceiling was white. I looked over to my right. A line of empty, large white beds was placed. The walls were white too. This was definitely the Hall of Origin's infirmary.

To my left, I saw Sylvy on one of the beds. She was still unconscious but looked better. Her head has been bandaged, especially where her right ear used to be. The stubs that used to be her feelers were also bandaged. No ear, no feelers. How could I have done that? I keep reminding myself I needed to choose Pyro over Sylvy. Was that so selfish of me?

The door burst open and an Eevee raced in.

"Sylvy! Sylvy!" the Eevee, Elric, shouted. A Blissey came in and scolded him for being loud before leaving the room. Elric cried over Sylvy, hugging her with his paws. I looked away, I couldn't bring myself to meet Elric's eyes. He surely knows what happened by now from Aqua. I heard some pawsteps approaching me.

"Mew." I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep. "Mew." I sank my head further into the pillow. I can't look at him. "Mew, please look at me." I didn't expect that. I thought he'd be angry, no, I expected him to be. I just lost his daughter her ear and forced her through torture.

"Some legendary I am. I'm a failure," I murmured.

"You are not a failure, Mew. Aqua told me, from your memories, what happened. He hasn't told the others yet though. I understand what you did. You couldn't do a thing."

"It still doesn't change the fact that I got someone, no, not someone, a friend! An innocent friend! I made her suffer because of something she had nothing to do with!"

"You had no choice. You had to protect Pyro."

"But because of that, Sylvy… Sylvy-"

"Look. I am her father. Yes, I'm distraught that she suffered and that she's like this now. But I also think that you did the right thing."

"I can't bring myself to face them. I can't face Pyro or Aqua or my children. What would Cloud and Luna think? They must be disappointed in their mother."

"Face me then!" Elric used his paws to grab my head and turn it so I could see his face clearly. "There! If you can face me in front of my daughter who just lost an ear, then surely you can tell them what happened!" His eyes were full of hurt; I can see it. "I don't like seeing you like this, Mew. Blaming yourself over something that you had no control of. I don't like it at all." I looked at him through misty eyes, I saw that he meant every word he said.

"But I can't…" I whispered.

"Then I'll go with you," he whispered back calmly.

It took a while but in the end, I nodded and teleported us to the front of the manor. I could feel the Psychic presence of Pyro and Aqua inside.

"Come on," Elric said, pushing me forwards. I flew up and towards the door, him following directly behind. Opening the door, I was greeted with Aqua, in his Light Mew form. His eyes cold and steely than I've ever seen. It looked totally unnatural. His right paw had a slight pink tint to it. He still had not gotten the blood entirely out of his fur then.

I faltered right then and there as he stared at me through unfazed eyes. I remember when his eyes had burnt a bright gold when he saw Sylvy. The way every glass in the building exploded from a subconsciously-released psychic wave. The way he killed the human and Kyurem instantly with no hesitation.

"Mew," he said, his voice betrayed no emotions whatsoever.

"Aqua… I'm sorry." His face then contorted in rage, I knew it took every fibre of his being not to lash out at me.

"You… Sylvy lost an ear because of you! She's badly hurt because of you! She was put through that… that _torture_ because of you! All because of what? Because you wanted to have a little nap out in the open!" he shouted. Tears sprang into my eyes again as I cowered. I looked over to Elric, a look that said, _what did I tell you?_ He seemed to get the message and stepped forwards.

"Aqua. Calm down."

"What?"

"Calm. Down. You are not thinking rationally. Go fly around outside to cool your head off. Please," Elric pleaded, though forcibly. Aqua gave me a glare, making me whimper involuntarily, and flew out of the house quickly.

Pyro, who probably came to investigate the commotion, came down the stairs and saw me crying. He, always the sweet guy, came over quickly to comfort and reassure me that everything's fine. But I knew that everything was _not_ fine.


	6. Real Nightmare

**Continued**

Worried. Frightened. Scared. Terrified. Helpless.

All these emotions ran through me like a surging tide. Somebody help me.

How did it come to this? How could this have happened? Perhaps this was a dream? Perhaps… That was a nice word. Perhaps. A word to show the wish that something would happen. A desperate wish, maybe? I wish this was a dream. To not be a reality, to all be part of my supposedly powerful mind.

I'm not supposed to feel like this.

But then again… I am a Pokemon too. I have feelings too. I have hopes and dreams too. I have many looking up to me, admiring me, trusting me. My son and daughter, Cloud and Luna, included. Sylvy trusted me… And look where that got her.

"It's all right, Mew. It's all right. Everything's going to be just fine," Pyro comforted me. Such a sweet guy he was. How did I ever deserve him?

Through my blurry eyes, I saw Cloud and Luna, peeking from the doorway. They went away after they noticed that I saw them. What will they think of me?

Aqua hates me now. Pyro, once he learned what happened, would surely follow, as would the kids. Aqua… Hates me. The true meaning of that suddenly crushed me. It felt worse than if I were to be buried alive. He hates me, he'll turn Pyro against me, or break us up, if Pyro doesn't already want that.

"Mew…" Elric spoke up, his voice cracking slightly.

"Come on, let's go see Sylvy. Maybe she'll be awake by the time we get there," Pyro whispered. So he knew. Figures. Aqua and him are so close, they pretty much share the same mind-set. But he doesn't hate me? I bet Aqua will see to that.

"I-I can't…" I whispered, with difficulty. He looked at me sadly.

"Why not?"

"I can't! I can't see her! I don't want to see her!" I shouted. I fell onto the floor, exhausted. "I can't… I can't deal with it. I won't be able to handle what she'll tell me, shout at me, do to me. I can't deal with it right now…"

"Why would you think that?"

"Have you seen what happened to her? What she's been through? And you think she'll even _tolerate_ being in the same room as me?!" I shouted back.

"You're scared." I looked up at him. His eyes were steely. Oh no, even Pyro hates me now. Well… I can't say I expected otherwise. But then he said something that surprised me. "I'll show you. I'll show you there's nothing to be scared of."

He then looked up at Elric. "Watch over the kids, will you?"

"Sure," was the Eevee's reply. Pyro grabbed me and I felt a familiar sensation: _Teleport_. My eyes widened and my body started to hyperventilate. At this rate… At this rate… Sylvy will-!

"Mew?" I heard. No… Not him. Anyone but him. I'd choose to see Sylvy over him in a heartbeat. I looked up. Aqua was standing by Sylvy's bed, holding onto one of her forepaws. Sylvy was awake, too. She was staring straight at me. I could not discern her emotions whatsoever.

"Aqua…" I heard Pyro next to me. I noticed him looking at Aqua as he stormed out of the room, sending me yet another hateful glare. I looked down. Our relationship would never be the same again, would it? It's over.

I then felt myself being pushed. Pyro grunted as he pushed me next to Sylvy's bed, where she sat up. My throat went dry as I carefully, and slowly, floated upwards and onto her bed. I stood in front of her, keeping my distant.

"Mew."

"Sylvy…" I croaked, my voice hoarse and dry as the desert sand. "I'm sorry. I know this won't mean anything but I really am sorry. I… I wish. I wish I could have done something."

"You'll have to speak up, I can't really hear as well."

"And that's my fault, I know. I'm sorry. I understand if you hate me now, if you don't want to see me anymore. Please, I really am sorry-!" I stopped when I felt her paw on my head. I looked up at her, to see tears in her eyes.

"You must've been so scared, Mew." She hugged me as I stood there in shock. "I could see it then. You were terrified. You wish for somehow it to be a dream, just a bad nightmare."

"Sylvy… I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't help you."

"Don't beat yourself up. Don't regret it. I understood your choice. You had to keep Pyro and the others safe, even if it means I'll be hurt. But never for a second did you _want_ me to be hurt. I know, Mew, I know."

"How…" I sobbed, hugging her back, "How can you be so nice? Nobody can be this kind!"

"I just understand your choice. After all, I am just a normal Sylveon. What am I, compared to Cloud, you, Luna and Pyro, the Shadow Mews? It was an obvious answer, your family must come first, their safety must be ensured, even if it means someone has to endure the pain."

"If only I could t-take your pain away… And make it mine. I would in an instant…" I whispered, still sobbing.

"I would not allow it though. If only things could have happened differently… If only…" She let go of the hug and looked at me. "If only… If only, if only. Wistful, wishful thinking. It's weird that we all know that nothing could be done, yet we try to find a way for things to have gone differently. Maybe it's our own way of trying to rid ourselves of the guilt?" I nodded, still crying.

She moved towards me again and wiped my tears off with her paws. Her fur felt so soft, yet it stings my heart with guilt like thorns. "Stop crying, Mew. How would Cloud and Luna react, seeing you like this?"

"…" I could not reply; I was trying to stop my tears.

"It's all right. I'll be all right. You should go clean up, Mew. You look horrible." I nodded and looked at Pyro.

"I'll wait for you back at the house," he said. I nodded in reply and he teleported away. I then slowly flew towards the exit of the infirmary.

"Mew." I looked back at Sylvy. "Remember this. The world is beautiful, even if you're full of tears and sadness. Open your eyes and see the beauty of the world, be free. You are not bound by anything, do not let anything weigh you down. You can do whatever you want. Remember it. If anything, remember it for me."

"Sylvy… Now I see why Aqua loves you," my voice croaked again slightly. She smiled, nodded and lay back down, deciding to get some rest. I flew out the exit and towards my room, head down and my mind still making sense of what she said.

I was jerked out of my thoughts when I bumped into something- or rather- someone. I looked up and saw the golden eyes of the one I now fear the most: Aqua.

"Wh-what are you doing, Aqua?" I stammered, wondering if he wants something from me.

"I _do_ want something from you, Mew. I want my retribution. For Sylvy." My eyes widened. This is not the Aqua I know, definitely not. He's been blinded, by love, by hate. Just how much does Aqua love her? I now have the answer: Enough to blind him and hinder him from thinking rationally.

"I-I know what I did was w-wrong, Aqua. And I r-regret it. Really," I spoke to him, slowly backing away. He did not say anything in reply.

He shot at me with a Shadow Ball.

I quickly dodged to avoid getting hurt, in spite of my surprise at him actually attacking me. Another Shadow Ball came flying at me and I threw up a Protect shield, which absorbed it. I know I can't beat Aqua, so I teleported away.

By sheer luck, I teleported right next to Pyro, who was around the kids and Elric. He was surprised at my panicked look and messy fur.

"Mew, I thought you were going to clean up-" he said, before being interrupted by a flash, indicating Aqua had also teleported after me. He was preparing two Shadow Ball attacks but then he noticed the others.

"Tch." He extinguished the attacks and flew off with a scowl.

"What was that?" Elric asked as he eyed the leaving Light Mew.

"I don't know. He tried to attack me." I shivered in fear. It was just how I feared things would play out.


	7. The Only Way

**Between 26 and 27**

* * *

"Aqua, please!" I dodged yet another Hydro Pump from him. "What do I need to do?!"

"I. Want. Retribution," he growled. His eyes shone bright. Bright with madness, that's what. "For Sylvy!" He then fired a Dark Pulse while flying after me.

"What would Sylvy think of you attacking me?" I asked, panting from exhaustion.

"Do not talk to me like you know Sylvy!" he screamed instantly. A beam of pure energy formed and shot from him. I tried to dodge it but it nicked the tip of my tail. God, that burns! I did the most sensible thing in mind and flew as fast as I can to Pyro, who was at his mansion, pushing my body to the limits.

However, fate was cruel to me. Just as I reached the door, Aqua fired some attack, I couldn't see what it was, at my back and propelled me through the door. My body couldn't take any more as I collapsed, sprawled out at the base of the grand staircase. I weakly looked behind me and saw Aqua floating in the doorframe, a determined look on his face and a large Dark Pulse charging up in one of his paws. I hope Pyro comes in time, without the kids, I thought before blacking out.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

I came as soon as I heard the loud crash, running at full speed towards the main hall.

"Aqua!" I yelled, catching my brother's attention. He shot an annoyed look at me before shifting his gaze back to the unconscious Mew on the floor.

"Coward," he spat before teleporting away. I slowly stumbled down the stairs and towards Mew before collapsing next to her.

"Why didn't you come sooner, Mew? Why can't Aqua stop attacking you? Why is everything so complicated?" I could not understand what was going on. What was wrong with Aqua? Why is Mew so determined to talk to him when all he does is attack her? What do I have to do?

 _What would it take to stop them fighting?_

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Sometime later, I found myself consulting Sylvy, something I would never have thought I would do.

"Mew. Mew?" I snapped back to reality as she called my name a few times.

"H-huh?"

"You became lost in your thought again," she sighed. "As I was saying. You know how Pyro and Aqua are almost complete opposites, right?"

"Yes, I know that."

"Where Pyro would blame himself for something, Aqua would not. He would not blame himself, or anyone, for that matter-"

"So then why-" I stopped when she held up a paw.

"I'm not finished yet. You see, when something so big like this happens, he can no longer do that. In his mind, he _has_ to find someone to blame. No offence, Mew, but it isn't hard to find a way to blame you for what happened. I'm not blaming you, just saying that Aqua sees it that way." She sighed before continuing, "From what I've observed over the time I was with him, it is in Aqua's nature to be nice, loving and gentle. But when it comes to matters of his family's safety, he is ruthless, relentless and savage. He's most powerful then."

"So… What do I have to do?" I asked worriedly. She looked downcast, frowning.

"I don't know. Nothing can get through to him, from what you tell me. I've been trying to tell Aqua that nobody is at fault but he doesn't listen, instead launching into a rant to himself."

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

I've got to do this. I have to, it's my duty. I took in a deep breath and floated around the corner. Aqua was floating in front of the staircase from before, possibly waiting. The moment I saw Aqua, he whipped his head towards me.

"Mew," he growled, "So you've finally stopped being a coward, I hope? Not running away from your responsibility?" His snarling voice making me wince involuntarily, possibly because I never really heard him snarl at me before. "Remember, this is all because of you and your selfishness." He punched me with a Feint Attack followed by a Shadow Claw. I was sent to the ground with a grunt. It hurts, oh it hurts. Not so much physically as mentally. It was almost enough to make me give up right then and there but I reminded myself that this was the best way.

The best way to get Mew and Aqua to stop fighting. The best way to stop my mate and my brother fighting.

I pulled myself up, just in time to get hit by a Shadow Ball from above, knocking me into the ground once again.

"What's the matter with you? Are you trying to ignore me? Is that it?" he growled loudly as he stepped on my now-pink tail. He then used Aqua Jet while grabbing onto me. My face was dragged across the floor before he slammed my body into the wall at high speed. All my breath left my body and I thought that some of my ribs were broken. If that was not enough, he still kept on with the Aqua Jet, crushing me between himself and the wall.

"You deserve this. You deserve this! You little selfish bitch! Pyro won't save you this time!" he yelled, "But don't worry, I'll make sure Luna and Cloud don't grow up to be like you!" The words cut into my heart even though it wasn't directly targeted at me. It hurt more than the injuries he inflicted. Once the attack stopped, I started to fall towards the ground. But the hard ground wasn't what hit me, it was the Thunder Punch from Aqua.

"Speak! Say something! Or are you so miserable you can't even talk?!" I used the time he gave me to push myself up slowly.

"A-are you-" I paused, being launched into a coughing fit, "Are you do-done yet?" My voice rasped hoarsely, making it hard for Aqua to know who I am.

"Oh, don't worry," he smiled, "There's always more for you." He then used a Dazzling Gleam, glowing a bright white. My eyes opened wide as I recognized the attack, a fairy-type one, a type I'm weak against. It took all my willpower to not scream out as the attack hit, burning every inch of my body like a white-hot flame. He grinned at my obvious pain, "That's one of Sylvy's moves. Does it hurt? Does the guilt burn you? Does the responsibility of your actions crush you? No? I should show you more."

I was really tempted to just give up now, but this was for the better. It would prevent a major crisis that may occur. It may prevent the inevitable fight between Mew and Aqua. My train of thought was cut as he used Fairy Wind on me. He kept up the attack as I writhed in pain. As my vision started to fade, I heard him shout,

"Do you know how Sylvy felt?! Do you now? I'll tell you what, what Sylvy went through was a thousand times worse than this! What you put her through… This is the least that you deserve!"

More of my vision turned black. I can't go unconscious now, not when Aqua isn't finished yet. I vaguely recalled Aqua diving underground with a Dig. I didn't even feel him bursting under me and striking me airborne. He charged up a Moonblast in his paw, combined with a Signal Beam, before launching it at my back at point-blank range. It was then that my vision faded, my final image was of a bright light and of Mew flying in. She's not supposed to be here, I thought. Then I blacked out.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

I flew in just in time to see a pink Mew, who was most definitely not me nor Cloud, get hit in the back by a combination of Moonblast and Signal Beam. The pokemon shot towards the ground, cracking the floor and throwing up a small cloud of dust. The one behind the attack was, of course, Aqua. He sensed me and his head whipped round so fast it probably almost came off.

"M-Mew?!" he yelled, a tone of pure confusion in his voice. "If you're Mew then who is-"

We both looked towards the ground as the dust settled. A significant smoky-grey body of a certain Zorua could be seen on the ground, its eyes closed, its body riddled with cuts and bruises, and its fur matted down with flowing blood.

"P-Py-Py-" Aqua stuttered, his tone sounded like he was about to cry. Considering the circumstances, in which Aqua had attacked Pyro so savagely and with attacks he was so weak against, I could understand it if he were to break down right now.

"What did you do, Aqua?!" I exclaimed, aghast at the sight of the broken, bloody body. His eyes turned cold as he looked at me.

"This is your doing, isn't it?" he breathed. "IT'S YOUR DOING!"

"Lord Aqua." We both looked for the source and saw Arno, the head butler, standing by the door.

"What is it, Arno? I don't have the time right now!"

"Do any of you know why Lord Pyro did that?" he asked, ignoring Aqua's statement. But his question caught our attention though.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Do you know why Lord Pyro took your form and went to find Lord Aqua, just to let Lord Aqua to attack him one-sidedly?"

"Why?"

"I do not mean any ill will when I say this, Lord Aqua and Lady Mew, but Legendary Pokémon are often spoiled and have a superiority complex. They do not think about how others around them feel as long as they get what they want, more so if they are in a state of emotional disarray. Lord Pyro did what he did so that Lord Aqua may have his wish fulfilled. Once he does, he will leave Lady Mew alone, thus ending the struggle and frustration. Lord Pyro wanted to end the useless fighting, and this was the only way."

"I knew it. It was still all your fault, Mew!" he yelled, shifting his glare back to me.

"You attacked Pyro on your own accord. This is your fault!" I yelled back. How dare he pin this on me, when I clearly saw him beating up Pyro. Arno sighed loudly, catching our attention again.

"It seems like you still do not understand. I am truly sorry, Lord Aqua, Lady Mew. I do hope you think rationally and end this fight and make up. Do not let Lord Pyro's sacrifice be in vain. Please do not hold this against us." He bowed, leaving us confused before we saw the multitude of Shadow Ball and Phantom Force heading towards us, fired from the various butlers and maids of the mansion. Both Aqua and I were out before we even hit the ground.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

I am not going to lie, it was hard. This is the first time, that I can remember, attacking Lord Aqua and Lady Mew. Although I did not do it directly myself, the guilt welled up inside me.

"Take them to the Hall of Origin Infirmary!" I commanded the others. An Alakazam cook appeared and lifted both of them up before teleporting away. The other workers of the mansion left to go back to their jobs, leaving me alone in the main hall.

I scanned the wrecked hall, signs of an intense fight. But with no retaliation, that fight was one-sided. "Why do you not understand, Lord Aqua," I whispered to myself, "that Lord Pyro has sacrificed so much just to get you to stop your fighting?"

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

It was some time later when Aqua and Mew woke up. As expected, they were in the Hall of Origin's infirmary. Aqua woke first, shaking his head to rid himself of the headache. He still couldn't get the flashing images out of his mind. The way his world crumbled when he saw Pyro, the brother he loved so dearly, broken and bleeding on the floor because of him.

Oh god. He grabbed his head in his paws, I said all those things to him, I did all those things to him. There is no remote possibility that it is not my fault. Tears began to leak out of his eyes as he shut them tight. He cried for a long time, not doing anything else, not thinking anything else. But then, a Blissey entered, carrying a tray. As soon as she set it down by Aqua's bed, he jumped up. He grabbed the Blissey and started to scream at her.

"Where is my brother?! Where is he?!" he yelled, "Bring me to him!" The poor Blissey was shivering like a leaf in the wind, terrified by the pokemon screaming in her face.

"Maybe she'll bring you to him if you stop shaking her and shouting in her face." Aqua looked towards the voice and saw Arceus.

"You bring me to him, Arceus. Now," Aqua commanded. Arceus sighed before nodding. They exited the room, leaving the Blissey alone in the room. As they walked towards Pyro's room, Aqua pestered Arceus with a barrage of questions, but Arceus merely shook her head and told him that she only knew what he knows.

Upon reaching the room, Aqua saw Pyro. He was in some sort of cast or harness, wires and tubes coming out of his body. It was surreal, Pyro looked better than before, but was still connected to so many human machines.

"Can't you just… Heal him?" Aqua asked. The Blissey who was operating or checking some the machines turned towards him.

"Lord Aqua. Healing moves can only heal so much, once the damages are past the threshold, they won't be healed by that. This is the reason why Lord Pyro is healed of minor cuts and injuries, only his major ones remain," she informed.

"Wh-what are his m-major injuries," Aqua stuttered, almost too afraid to ask. His worry deepened when she sighed tiredly and looked at Pyro with pity.

"He's paralyzed for life, that's the most major one. The rest are able to be fixed by the machinery over time, but I'm afraid there's no way to fix the paralysis. We won't know what Lord Pyro will be able to move, that would come when he wakes up."

"Wh-why's he paralyzed?!" Aqua almost shouted, even though he knew the answer already.

"From what I've heard, that final attack did it in. Lord Pyro's weak against Fairy-type moves and doubly weak against Bug-type moves, making your combination of moves do so much damage to him. To be frank, you are lucky that Lord Pyro's still alive after that." Aqua moved to his dear brother's side and grasped his motionless paw.

"Pyro… Why? Why would you do that?" he asked, sobbing slightly. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything. I regret it all, I really do." Pyro stirred, slowly opening his eyes.

"A-Aqua?"

"Yes?" Pyro smiled.

"Can you stop now? Can you stop the fighting now?" he asked weakly.

"Of course. Whatever you want, Pyro. Whatever you want at all, I will do it."

"Thank you," he whispered before falling back to sleep.


	8. Approaching End

**Between 26-27**

* * *

"His wound is infected."

Those words were the cause of my world crumbling to dust. Spoken by the Blissey taking care of Pyro when she noticed the anomaly in how his condition worsened. Such calmness, those words were spoken with, it caused me infuriation.

"Please tell me it's just Pokerus or something," I growled through gritted teeth. She shook her head before checking the monitors again. I stared at Pyro, who was unconscious and breathing heavily and sweating. "How bad is it?" She looked up to me again, before shaking her head slowly, suddenly looking downcast.

 _Fatal_

"How did you not notice earlier?!" I screamed, making Pyro stir a little, but he remained asleep.

"It was infected before we healed the minor wounds. Those cuts and scrapes were infected by the time we did heal him. The wound closed but the infection remained in his blood. We just noticed when it showed its symptoms, which means that it's already spread around the body. I'm afraid we can't do anything more than make him more comfortable," she still spoke with calmness.

I rubbed my temple, this can't be happening. All this because Pyro disguised himself as Mew and I was too blind to see through it. How could I not recognize my brother? Maybe I really was blinded by rage to see clearly, I would never make that mistake normally.

"How much?" I asked, keeping my voice steady.

"Pardon?"

"How much time does he have left?"

"I'm not sure about that. Hard to say. It depends on the physique of each infected. But with him," she nodded towards Pyro, "I would say not long."

"Leave." She bowed and then backed out of the room. I collapsed on the side of Pyro's bed, staring at him. Why is fate such a cruel mistress? I lay my head down on his bed, closing my eyes and sighing.

"Aqua?" I heard him say weakly. My eyes shot open and I looked at him.

"Hey there. Are you all right? Do you need anything?" I whispered to him.

"I'm okay, Aqua. But…" He looked down. At this, I grew concerned.

"What is it, Pyro? Whatever you want, just tell me."

"I… I can't move. Why can't I move, Aqua?" he started to panic, "Wh-what's wrong?! Why can't I move my body?! I can't move anything but my head!"

"Pyro. Pyro!" I tried to calm him down, but he wasn't listening.

"Help! Help, Aqua! I can't move! I can't feel anything!" he shouted frantically, his head thrashing on the bed. This caused several pokemon to come into the room. First, the Blissey, who ignored Pyro and checked all the machines. Secondly, Mew came into the room, followed by Vulcan. It took almost an hour to calm Pyro down and for me to explain to all of them about the infection.

"So… I'm never going to move again?" he asked with a shaky voice. "And I'm going to die soon?"

I could do nothing but nod as my throat seemed to have been blocked. He sighed and closed his eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Pyro. I'm so sorry," I finally said after a few minutes of silence. "I-I… I was… There's no excuse for what I did to you. I would understand it if you were to ask to never see me again, I really would."

"Uncle Aqua… Did you really do all those things?" Vulcan asked me. I slowly nodded, guilty.

"I don't hate you for it, Aqua. I'm just accepting what happened. I guess my time is going to be up soon, I've already died once, haven't I?" he asked, staring at me with those ruby-red eyes of his. "It's just that this time I won't be born again as a Shadow Mew, correct?"

"Y-yes," I croaked in reply.

"I have three requests; think you can handle it?"

"Whatever you want, Pyro. I will do whatever it is you ask."

"I want to talk to Luna, Umbreon Luna, alone."

"Okay. We can do that now, if you want. I'll take you there," I replied instantly. He smiled and nodded.

A few minutes later, I found myself setting Pyro down on the ground in Giratina's room. He was looking at Pyro with a look of pity. He started his ritual of summoning a spirit and soon enough, we were leaving the room and Pyro and Luna behind us.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Luna and I stared at each other while Aqua and Giratina left. It was a little while before she spoke up.

"So… Um… Pyro?" she whispered, her tail swaying behind her mesmerized me.

"Yeah?"

"Aren't you going to move at all?"

"I can't." She froze up at this.

"Wh-what do you mean you can't?"

"I can't, I'm paralyzed. For life."

"Have you tried a paralyze heal?" she asked, cocking her head. I chuckled a bit at this.

"If only it were that simple. No, nothing can help it now. It doesn't even matter anyways."

"What do you mean 'it doesn't matter'?!" she burst in a worried fit, "Of course it matters! If what you are saying is true, you can't move anything!"

"I can move my head," I replied, smiling and lifting my head up.

"That's hardly any better!"

"Luna."

"What happened to you?! What, or who, caused this?!"

"Luna."

"I will find whoever it is, and pummel them into the ground!"

"Luna."

"Why aren't you the least bit worried?!"

"LUNA!" I finally shouted, gaining her attention.

"What is it, Pyro?"

"Don't pummel Aqua to the ground, please," I replied, grinning slightly. I saw her suddenly confused face and knew instantly. She's in an emotional conflict. She wants to be mad at Aqua like she was last time, but she knows that he must not have intended it.

"Y-you mean… Aqua did this?"

"Not intentionally, of course. But I have another thing to tell you, and it's why I am not so worried about not being able to move." She sat down next to me and lay her tail on top of my body, looking at me as if to tell me to go on. "It's because I'm going to die soon."

Her eyes went so wide I almost laughed.

"AQUA!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. "GET THE FUCK IN HERE!" I giggled slightly, I knew she would say that. Well, not exactly that but similar. That was why I told him to go back to the mansion and come back in an hour or so. I sure hope he followed what I said.

"Luna."

"YOU'D BETTER GET YOUR SORRY ASS IN HERE BEFORE I GO OUT THERE AND BEAT IT UP!"

"Luna!"

"What?"

"He's not out there, I told him to go away."

"Why-"

"Because I knew you would want to beat him up, of course. I knew you're that kind of pokemon." She sighed and shook her head, looking like she had a headache.

"Pyro," she whispered, "You have one chance. One chance to explain to me why I shouldn't go and kill Aqua."

"It's because it's my fault I'm like this," I replied back, confident that this will convince her.

"Like hell I'll believe that." Maybe not, there goes plan one.

"Look, Mew and Aqua was fighting. I disguised myself as Mew so Aqua can get rid of his anger and whatnot on me. But he may have taken it further than I thought I could handle and I'm like this now."

"Still Aqua's fault. He should've realised it was you."

"All right. I admit that he may have been a bit too mad to see through the disguise but I don't blame him. It's natural to be mad." She jumped up and looked at me, frustrated.

"It is not natural! It is not natural to be so mad at someone and hurt your own brother who you love so much! I've never seen any sibling care for each other as much as you two!" All right then, how about plan two?

"Luna. As my last request for you, can you forgive Aqua?" I asked her, hoping that playing this card will achieve my goal.

"Pyro. I-I can't. I love you but I just can't-" Maybe this will help. I splayed my ears back and looked up at her with wide, watery eyes.

"Are you r-really going to deny m-me my last request?" I asked, voice shaky. I saw her falter as she saw this and added, "D-don't you love me a-anymore, Luna?"

"All right. I'll forgive him, I'll forgive him. Now stop crying, Pyro," she sighed, "I love you and all, but that was cruel."

"I know, but it works!" I instantly ceased the (fake) tears and smiled at her. I nuzzled into her fur as she sat down next to me again. "So I'm going to see you soon, on the other side."

"As lovely as that sounds, I still don't want you to die."

"Everybody's got to die at some point. Dying just a bit earlier doesn't make that much of a difference."

"But this is not 'just a bit earlier', Py. You have years more to live. You still have to take care of Cloud and Luna!"

"I'm sure Mew can handle it. Plus, they can visit and talk to us at any time, right?"

"Yeah," she mumbled, "Until we decide to be reborn as another pokemon."

"Maybe we will, maybe we won't. Who knows?"

"I hope I won't see little, new-born Eevee or Zorua kits running around in the Afterlife," we heard behind us.

"Aaah! Giratina, I thought you were waiting somewhere else!" Luna scream in surprise and, probably, embarrassment.

"I'm just here to say that the long conversation is sapping my power really quickly. Can you tie it up soon?"

"Well… Guess I'll see you later, Luna," I said. She nodded and faded away as coloured wisps again. I looked up at the big Renegade Pokémon, "Can you bring me back home to Aqua?"

"Hm? Oh, 'course," he replied, looking down at me.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"My second request is for me to stay in the room we built," he said. I nodded, knowing instantly what he was talking about. I carried him along the hallways until we reached a small room, about four metres by four. It was full of photos and paintings. Most of the photos contain us, during vacations, meeting others, generally having fun. No matter how many times I enter this room, it still takes my breath away. At the back of the room was the largest, most realistic painting of all. It was of us in our original forms. Pyro was depicted crossing his small arms and looking away to the side, having a frown on his face while I was floating beside him with a large smile on my face, trying to cheer him up.

I miss the old Pyro. And I will miss this Pyro too. Arno, the Arcanine, and I set the room with a few blankets and pillows for Pyro to be comfortable.

"Thanks," he said, smiling at us.

"If you ever need me, I will be nearby, Lord Pyro." Arno bowed and backed out of the room, leaving me with Pyro.

"For my last request. I want you to forget about what happened or will happen to me, live your life, and do take care of Luna and Cloud for me. Can you do that?"

"Pyro. I-I don't want to forget-"

"Please. Can you do that, Aqua?" he pleaded. His voice sounded so desperate I just couldn't say no. I don't want to forget him though, I want to remember him, remember the good times we had together, I need to remember him. But to ease his worry, I replied,

"Yes, I will do that. I will take care of Luna and Cloud as best I can."

"Thanks Aqua." He yawned and closed his eyes, going to sleep. Peaceful and calm, I will make him as happy as I can, I just need to. If only there was a way to save him…

* * *

 **{A/N} You have a chance to edit your sets of truth or dares for LToD now**


	9. Friend, or something more?

**{A/N} 26-27 Just a little something a bit more light-hearted~**

* * *

Luna

I trotted out the mansion and towards the nearby pokemon town that I've recently been visiting ever since I was allowed out alone, ditching my (annoying) brother behind. On the way there, I met a familiar Shinx walking towards me.

"Hi Luna!" he greeted.

"Hi Ren!" I greeted back. Ren was a Shinx and the first pokemon of my age I talked to, not including my brother. I found him quite fun to be with; we played many games together and had good times thus far.

"Where'd you come from? I was about to take a walk in the woods near here…" he asked me, confused.

"I came from my house, of course!"

"Your house? It's way out here?"

"Well... I'm not the one who built it, you know?" I pouted, "Daddy and Uncle built it."

"Right. Since I'm headed that way, how about you show me your house? That'd be cool!" he suddenly announced. I thought for it a bit. I was headed to town to play with him any ways. Maybe we could play in the mansion! It's big, we could play a great game of hide-and-seek there. Perhaps brother could stop being a bore and join in.

"Sure! Follow me!"

Soon enough, we arrived at my house, which promptly made Ren's jaw drop.

"Th-this is your house?!" he asked in disbelief.

"Yep! Come on in!" I led him towards the front door and pushed it open. His head was swivelling here and there, taking the scenery and the decorations in. We were greeted by Arno, who I've started to like. He was quite fun to talk to at times, but he's usually busy with work.

"Back already, Luna?" he smiled, before noticing the Shinx besides me. "Oh? Who is this that you've brought with you?"

"Him? His name's Ren; Cool, right? He's my friend!" I told Arno before turning to the slightly-intimidated Ren, "This is Arno!"

"H-hello…" Ren whispered.

"Hello friend of Luna's. I'm sure Lord Pyro would love to meet you!" Arno chuckled.

"Oh, that's right! Come on, Ren, I'll take you to see daddy! He's the coolest!"

"Um… S-sure, if I'm not trespassing, that is."

"Don't worry. Any friends of Luna's are welcomed here. Follow me." Arno led us through the winding maze of hallways towards the small room where daddy stays in. The painting room, as I call it.

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

Ren

 _This_ is Luna's house?! I couldn't believe it! It was over five times my house's size, for goodness's sake! And now she's taking me to see her dad? I wondered all this while walking through the corridors and observing the artworks and decorations around me. My tail started to glow slightly, something it usually does when I'm nervous or excited. Or both, like now. Luna was talking to the large Arcanine, Arno, was it? Her tail was wagging happily from side to side, cute.

Soon, we reached a doorway that had no door, weird, right? Inside the room were paintings and pictures en masse. But what caught my eye were the pokemon in the centre of the room.

A large cushion was placed on the floor, on which a Zorua was lying on top. On either side of him was a Mew, though one was smaller and had a weird tint of grey at the tip of his tail. A Mew. A MEW! One of the legendary pokemons I've been taught! I thought they were just legends, as their title suggests!

I suddenly felt awkward as they stopped talking and turned to stare at me. Arno bowed and backed away, letting us into the room.

"Mommy, Daddy, brother! Look who I've brought!" They seemed to be in the middle of a conversation before we interrupted, yet Luna called out loudly.

"Aw, who is it, Luna?" one of the Mew, a female, presumably Luna's mother, asked.

"It's Ren!" Luna replied, smiling widely.

"Who's Ren?" the other Mew asked, her brother, maybe?

"He's my friend! My boyfriend!" As soon as she said that, not knowing what the last word really meant, I swear time stopped. That's her naivety at its finest. Me being a boy and being your friend does not make me your boyfriend, Luna! Well… Even if I want to…

"Mew, Cloud, Luna, can you leave for just a sec? I want to have a little private chat with Ren," the Zorua said in a soft voice. They all nodded and left, I heard Luna started talking animatedly to the others while walking down the hallway. Now all that was left was me and the Zorua, who did not seem to move at all. I gulped before gathering my courage.

"U-um… Uh… Mister… Umbraculo?" I said in a small voice, intimidated by the red eyes that stared at me.

"Call me Pyro," he smiled. However, that smile feels haunting for me, like he's faking it and planning to kill me later in secret or something. Just thinking about it made me shiver a bit. "And yes, I am Luna's father."

"Y-yes, uh… Well. Wh-what Luna said isn't true. I'm not her boyfriend!" I said quickly, hoping that her father doesn't suddenly lash out at me despite the smile.

"At least not yet, right?" he asked, chuckling slightly. "I know what you're thinking, Ren. Deep down, you wish to court her, don't you?"

"I-I don't-"

"Don't worry, Ren. I won't kill you in secret or something, if you're thinking that. I'm happy if Luna's happy."

"Well… I-I guess I think she's… she's c-cute," I mumbled, embarrassed.

"Both of you are still quite young. It's okay to think that, Ren, but I'd say let the feeling manifest for longer before making any moves. Enjoy life a bit more before then. I can see that you're a good kid."

"H-how do you-?" I was about to ask but he beat me to it.

"How do I know these things? Tell me, do you really know who Luna is?"

"What do you mean, sir?"

"I mean; do you really know who Luna is? Who she is meant to be?"

"I don't know… I don't know what you are t-talking about."

"Let me show you." He closed his eyes and started to glow. At one point, the glow was bright. Brighter than my mother Luxray's tail when she uses it. I had to close my eyes to stop it from burning. Once the light faded, I opened them to see a different pokemon laying on the cushion.

A black Mew. With ruby-red eyes.

A legend among legends told to me by my mother: The Shadow Mew. His bright red eyes gleamed in amusement as I stared at him. D-does this mean-

"Yes, it does. It means that Luna is the next Shadow Mew in line. She has a lot of responsibility placed upon her without her knowing it. And I know that having someone to share it will help her out a lot. That person is you, I can foresee it."

"Y-y-you are th-the Sh-"

"I _was_. It is now Luna. I am not long for this world, and Luna will be my legacy. She does not know that yet and she'll have to find out by herself. So… Do you still think that you want to court Luna?"

"I-I… Yes. I like Luna. I'll be her friend. I'll be her partner. I'll be her mate," I spoke with confidence, puffing out my chest a little. He only laughed, changing back to a Zorua.

"Like I said, you're a little too young to think of that, Ren. Be her friend first, see how that goes. And a tip, if you will, try to get on Cloud, her brother's, good side. He'll be the pokemon you'll see a lot around Luna."

"Th-thank you sir!"

"Pyro. It's just Pyro."


	10. Overprotective

**{A/N} This is going to be the last one going up for a bit, I'm literally in the exam period and so don't have any time to write. Neither does Wulfy, I think...**

* * *

As I walked down the hallways that were steadily becoming familiar to me, I suddenly felt a strange chill down my back. Somebody's watching me? I whipped around to look behind me but nothing was there. I was probably imagining it.

I continued to walked down towards Luna's room. Wonder if she's there? Lately I've been coming here often, getting to know her family and Arno (he's still quite a bit intimidating). Everything here is of absolute perfection! The food was fantastic, the rooms are gigantic, the beds are as soft as anything. But the one thing that was not so good was-

"You're here again?" That was Cloud, the one not-so-good thing about this place. He is Luna's brother. According to Mister Pyro, I should get on his good side as he will be around Luna most of the time. So far, it is proving to be very, very difficult. For some reason, he kinda openly hates my guts. "How many times are you going to come here?"

"I-I'm just here to see L-Luna," I replied nervously. No matter how tough you are, having one of the most powerful legendary displeased at you is scarier than hell.

"Again?" he huffed, clearly showing his disapproval. He then turned away and flew off.

I took the liberty to go and say hi to Luna's father first, walking down towards that small room of paintings.

"Hello, Ren." Of course he knows that I came. Ain't no surprising him around here anytime soon.

"Good morning Mister Pyro!" I replied cheerily, he's always a kind person.

"I told you to just call me Pyro," he chuckled.

"Right, I forgot. Sorry M- Pyro," I apologized uncomfortably. Referring to a legendary so casually is not the kind of feeling that I'll ever get used to, I guess.

"So. You're here to see Luna, right?"

"Yep."

"She's probably in her room right now. Or perhaps raiding the kitchen and annoying chef Blaire again. Who knows what that little girl is up to?" he laughed a little. As he laughed, I still wondered if he would ever move from that cushion. Doesn't it ever get uncomfortable? Doesn't he feel the need to stretch at all? I could never stay in one place for too long.

"Pyro, are you okay?" I asked, concerned and curious.

"Huh?" he tilted his head slightly in confusion, "Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?"

"It's just… Y'know? I haven't seen you move from that spot before…"

"Oh, that." He coughed slightly. "It's a bit personal, sorry."

"N-never mind then. Sorry for asking," I hurriedly replied. Not a good idea to invade his privacy. "I'll go find Luna then!"

"You do that," he smiled. "Be careful of Cloud!" he called out as I left the room. So I guess he knows about Cloud's hostility towards me. I sighed to myself as I walked towards Luna's (and her brother's) room.

After a few minutes, I finally found my way towards their room. But seriously, just how many dead ends are there in here? What is this mansion, a maze?

Anyways, their room was _big_! I realize that this is the first time I've ever been in here so, as such, I took in every detail. The room was painted a sky-blue, with patches of grey resembling dark clouds here and there. Two beds, each massive enough to fit both my mother, father and I on it. I looked at it in mild envy before jumping on one of them. It was very, very soft. Even being on it made me sleepy. Since Luna wasn't here, I guess it wouldn't hurt to just relax in here and wait. Nobody will mind, right?

* * *

"Ren!" a surprised voice yelled. I slowly opened my sleepy eyes. Had I accidentally fell asleep? Just as my eyes came into focus, I heard,

"Luna!" a sudden sense of weightlessness and sharp pain to my nape told me that I was being picked up. This pain woke me and I saw Luna, with her 'happy surprise' expression turning into shock, and Cloud with his bright blue eyes glowing. His Psychic hold on my nape was pretty weak and I'd say that I could escape it if I tried; but something told me that I should just stay limp. "Did he do anything?! Did he hurt you?!" Cloud quickly asked Luna.

"No! Cloud, put him down now!" Luna whined. "Why do you keep doing things like this to Ren?"

"Just give us a sec." He carried me into the hallway and down some corridors to make sure Luna couldn't hear us. He then pinned me to the wall with that weak Psychic.

"Listen here and listen well, Ren. Luna is my sister. She's my only sister, and I'll be damned if I let anyone hurt her. You are getting awfully close with her and I don't really like it. I have orders from father to leave you alone but if you hurt one hair- _one hair_ \- of hers, so help me I will kill you."

Whoa, where did this kid learn those foul words and threats?! But since he's a legendary too, it's still scary as hell. I nodded furiously in reply. He glared at me, narrowing his eyes, before letting me go and flying off.

I somehow stumbled my way back to Luna, who was waiting in her room, and tossed myself onto one of the beds.

"What did my brother do to you?" she asked, jumping onto the bed and peering closely at me. I sighed, tiny sparks flying off my tail, and looked up at her.

"Your brother's mean, you know that?"

"What do you mean?"

"Never mind," I replied, sitting up. "What should we do?"

"Wanna go raid the kitchen?" she asked, tail wagging excitedly. I looked at her in confusion,

"Didn't you do that already?"

"Yeah, but you wanna come with me this time?"

"Sure!"

I followed her through the house and towards the kitchen, hugging the walls and avoiding any butlers, maids, chefs, assistants and whatnot. In the kitchen, the sounds of pots and pans banging and cutlery clinking blocked out our pawsteps and whispering, making it easier.

As we hugged the counters and dodged a few pokemon making the food, we sniffed our way to food. Now I know why Luna likes to come here often, the smell itself is enough to make me drool.

"Stay," she suddenly said. I nodded and waited. She suddenly jumped up, grabbed a random plate on the counter above us and came back down. I could see some pieces of slightly red meat on it, diced to perfection. "Lucky!" she said to herself before eating a piece. I poked one of them sceptically before trying one myself. It was a bit salty but still delicious anyways.

It was just as we finished off the plate that we heard a loud gasp, followed by-

"Luna!" We looked up to see a… Delphox? At least I think she was a Delphox. "What are you doing, young lady?!" she exclaimed, not in an impolite way but still scolding.

"Uh-oh, Chef Blair!" Luna whispered to me hastily, "We need to run!"

"If you needed something to eat then you could've told me, you know?" the Delphox, Blair, said calmingly. I nodded to Luna and we both ran as fast as we could out. I'm not gonna lie, it was fun. My heart was pounding; we were running and grinning from ear to ear. Luna sure knows how to have fun in a place like this!

We didn't do much for the rest of the day, just talking around and playing, having fun. However, when it was time to bid goodbye…

"Be safe on your way home," both Mew and Pyro said to me.

"Come again tomorrow?" Luna asked me. I nodded in reply. As I turned and left, I briefly saw Cloud glaring at me before flying away again. It's not going to be easy to get on his good side, is it?


	11. The Fall

_**Song: Clannad OST- Town, Flow of Time, People**_

His heart pounded within him.

He was scared, but he couldn't let that show. No, that would ruin everything.

 _'You all right?'_ he heard his Meowstic friend ask in his head through telepathy, _'Your anxiety levels are kinda high right now.'_

 _'No kidding. I just broke into the mansion of the two most powerful pokemon. Public hanging's probably too good a death for me to go through if I were to be caught,'_ he thought back before he nodded to yet another pokemon, who seemed to be a maid here too. _'Just how many servants do they have here?'_

 _'At least they aren't trying to kill you,'_ his friend chuckled lightly, then added helpfully, _'Yet.'_

 _'Yeah, there's that,'_

"Oh, you're not finishing up yet, sir?" a Goodra walking past him asked suddenly.

"Uh, no. Not yet. I've still got something to do," he hastily replied. He had not expected anyone to talk to him. Then again, he did not expect them to nod at him in respect when he was seen sneaking around before either.

"Are you okay, sir? Your voice sounds a bit off."

"I- I'm all right. It's nothing, just a little sore throat," he replied, faking a cough to emphasize his point.

"Right, don't work too hard though, sir. You know we won't be able to organize ourselves without you. And if that happens, who will be there to help Lord Pyro then?" the Goodra smiled.

"Yes. Yes, I must go now."

"Have a nice day, sir!" The then walked in opposite directions down the corridor.

 _'How's that sore throat feeling? Sucked too many people off?'_ he heard a chuckle.

 _'Shut it. I had to make something up.'_

 _'Of course. Well, I'll leave you to the mission then.'_ Then there was silence. After a few more turns, he reached a junction. Something in him seemed to tug him towards the left hallway. He acknowledged it as his gut instinct and followed it down. Some more time passed as he looked into empty rooms of all purposes. At one point, his 'instinct' pointed towards an upcoming room. The moment he reached the entrance, he heard,

"Come in, Burst." He was shocked to hear his own name uttered calmly in this residence. But he did not reply, instead trying to find a place to hide.

"No need to hide. I know you are out there," the voice spoke again. He made up his mind and puffed out his chest, and, fangs bared and growling, went into the room. He saw his target, the murderer of his parents, lying on a cushion, eyes gleaming a bright ruby-red.

"As expected of the great Shadow Mew," he growled. But the little feline only grinned. Seemingly ignoring his words, he said,

"You are lucky that you are an Arcanine, one that resembles our head butler very well, as a matter of fact. If you weren't, then even my protection would not have helped you."

Burst was thrown off guard at this. "Protection?"

"Yes. I shrouded the entire area with a weak dark energy so our Psychic guards would not detect you for your own identity. And that gut instinct you called? That was me. What? Do you think that it is that easy to break into our home like this?"

"If you knew all that then, surely, you must know what I'm here for!" Burst exclaimed. This whole thing was madness. Nothing is going according to plan and now, here was his to-be victim, telling him that he had helped him through the mansion.

"You are here to kill the murderer of your parents," the Shadow Mew, henceforth identified as Pyro, replied calmly.

"And that's you, you fucking bastard!" Burst yelled as he pounced, claws out and ready to tear Pyro's throat. He was stopped, however, when Pyro used Psychic and pinned him to the ground. He then realized, this whole plan had a big, big hole in it. Without the element of surprise, he had next to no chance of killing Pyro. He growled in frustration.

"No. 'Tis not me." Burst looked confused for a second before switching back to a wary glance. Pyro released the Psychic hold on the Arcanine, which confused him even further. "Sit. It will be easier if I explain it all."

Burst complied, though very cautiously.

"I'm not going to do anything. As if I can move, anyways."

"What do you mean by that?" He suddenly can't help but notice that Pyro had not moved once since their encounter.

"All in good time. For now, listen to what I have to say. I will explain why I did what I did.

"When I was just a little kit, my parents were killed too. I went on this journey with my twin brother, to find a new home, you could say. But that was not meant to be-"

"I don't want to hear your little sob story."

"It will all make sense. Anyways, we were separated. Our journeys also diverted. I found a mate and stayed with her. She was the kindest pokemon around, granted, a little rough around the edge at times.

"Alas, that was not meant to be either. She was taken from me by a human organization. I was furious when I found out, dare I say more than you ever did. Void came into being that very night. He's the ugly side of me that is hard to control. The evillest, most sadistic being you will ever see. It is he, who you are looking for."

"Great story, shame it was not true though. You sounded so fake, I'd have to be the biggest idiot to believe it." Pyro sighed once he heard.

"Very perceptive. The truth is that I don't know." Burst glanced at him sceptically. "It was what I have been told. The old me died some time ago. I have been reborn, without my memory though. But I can say with confidence that Void does exist."

"So what now?" Burst's expression softened, if ever so slightly. "That doesn't change a thing. It also doesn't explain why you helped me."

"True. I realized, someone on a hunt for revenge has no limits as to how far they'll go. I will allow you to kill me- no, I will allow you to kill Void. I shall bring him out and let you kill him."

"You have a death wish or something? Or is this some kind of mind game you are trying to get out of this?"

"No. The fact is, I don't have long to live anyways. So if this will bring you peace then so be it, I will go from this world knowing I helped at least one person. I do not wish to be known as a murderer after my death."

"You..." Burst was at a lost for word. Part of him says that Pyro is a good pokemon and that he should turn around and leave the legendary be. The other part of him wanted to avenge his parents and kill this murderer. To Pyro's side, he suddenly noticed. A small book and a pen. Did the Shadow Mew keep a journal or perhaps a diary? It didn't matter, he shook his head. Pyro continued to speak on.

"Do not pity me. Do what will allow you to be at peace. Once I turn into Void, you will not see a shred of resemblance between us anyways. Plus, he will be trying to kill you." I wish I had a bit more time though, but that's impossible. I guess I'll have to die knowing my daughter's last words to me were that she hates me. Heh, how sad is that? Pyro thought to himself.

Burst looked at the feline in pity. _No pity. No remorse. I will avenge my dead father and mother. And everyone else in the massacre of my home village,_ his expression hardened.

"All right. I will do that."

"Good. Remember, once I hand control over my body to Void, you must kill him quickly and be gone, for the guards and my brother will be right on your tail. Tell your little Meowstic friend to help teleport you out and away."

"How did you-" he paused, realizing it was a dumb question, "Never mind."

"Ready?" Pyro giggled slightly.

"May you achieve enlightenment," Burst replied quietly.

"And may you find peace in your life." Pyro closed his eyes. For a second, nothing happened.

Then chaos erupted.

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

 _ **Song end**_

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

The air in the room seemed to be sucked away into nothingness as Burst felt it leave his lungs. The room seemed a shade darker than before, courtesy of the aura of the little feline pokemon on the cushion who looked anything but calm then. Snarling and growling. The pokemon thrashed its head in an attempt to move.

"I've found you," Burst growled.

"Fuck you, you little son of a bitch. I knew I shouldn't have let you lived. 'Coulda killed you easily like everyone else in that spree but I was soft then. Couldn't kill some pussy who was pretty much pissing himself then."

"I've finally found you. I will kill you. I will avenge them." For a split-second, he acknowledged Pyro's words. This monster did not resemble Pyro at all. It deserved to be killed.

 _'Uh, what's happening in there? The whole complex just lit up. You gotta go,'_ his Meowstic friend's voice said. True to his words, the loud wail of multiple sirens was heard.

"That motherfucker Pyro, such a weak little creature. But never mind, a little bitch like you can't kill me anyways. I AM IMMORTAL! You can't kill me! You won't kill me! You're too weak!"

"Fuck you, I don't even need to use moves to kill a pathetic creature like you." Burst slashed his claws, creating a deep wound into the beast's stomach. Instantly, blood spurted out in large amounts. He then dug his long claws deep inside the wound, twisting them. "Scum like you don't deserve to live." A Meowstic suddenly teleported in and grabbed the Arcanine, who removed his claws from the beast and turned to his partner.

"Hey, I dunno what you're playing at but we gotta haul ass." And in the blink of an eye, they were gone. Burst's final view was of the screaming, pitiful creature in front of him. _I'm sorry Aqua, I'd love to stay and catch up the past few years with you but this monster, one who resides in your brother, he needs to be killed. For the good of all pokemon._

"He cut me," Void said unbelievably. "FUCK!" Void screamed, "I WON'T DIE LIKE THIS!" A minute of pure agony and screaming later, another Arcanine rushed into the room: Arno. He came in just in time to witness the Shadow Mew transform back into a Zorua, with red eyes that stung in pain instead of pure black ones.

"Lord Pyro!" Arno exclaimed. But all Pyro did then was sob in pain. "Lord Pyro! What happened?!" he shouted, examining the gash in a rush.

"Void... Vo- Void, he- he," Pyro struggled, gasping for breath and coughing up blood. Aqua then flew into the room at a high speed, a look of pure horror and anger washed over his face, but softened as he and Pyro locked eyes. He forced himself to not throw up at the sight, blood was everywhere around Pyro, with more spurting continuously out of the deep wounds.

"Shh... Don't talk, Pyro. Save your strength." Through all the sobbing, Pyro managed a small smile,

"It hurts, Aqua. Dying."

"No, you will not die. You will not die on me like this," Aqua said desperately, voice cracking. He tried to heal Pyro, of course he tried. But in his panicked and desperate state, he could not concentrate. He couldn't use a healing move, he was simply just too angry and sad. Emotions were running too high. But then again, would he heal Pyro just so that he could suffer more and die in a few days' or weeks' time? He let out a scream of frustration.

"Thank you, Aqua, for always being there for me. Take care of- of Mew, Cloud and Luna for me, will you?"

"Of course, brother, of course." Aqua cried as he felt Pyro's breathing slow.

"Can you…" Pyro gasped, "Can you forgive me?"

"Yes! Of course!" he shouted in reply. But it was for naught, as Pyro had already breathed his last. "No, Pyro. Wake up. Wake up, Pyro! Don't go! Don't leave me!" he screamed, but to no avail. Alas, the Shadow Mew is no more. His screaming lowered to mumbles between sobs as the truth sank in, "Don't leave me again… Please…"

Arno stood back in silence, watching Aqua cry, on his knees and utterly defeated, with his dead brother in his arms. His thoughts then drifted to the cause of this. _Burst. Have you any idea what you have done, my child?_


	12. Turning Point

It was best to not say anything. As the body of the late Zorua was buried next to the Umbreon's grave, everyone bowed their heads. Pokemon from everywhere came to pay their respects; a great legendary had just died. But as they stood in the beautiful clearing, they all thought, _Who is the next Shadow Mew?_

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

"Luna."

"Pyro."

"It's good to see you again. And it's good to be able to move again," Pyro chirped, his Zorua tail wagging. He walked around and stretched, enjoying the mobility that was given back to him. In contrast, the Umbreon frowned.

"Though it would be much better if we were both alive."

"Yeah, true... So, what are we going to do?"

"It might not be what you think is best, but I say it is in our best interest to get outta here. This place sucks, it's boring."

"Get out? But we're dead now, where do we go?" Luna smiled at the question.

"I had a little chat with Giratina earlier. I arranged it so that we will be reborn and meet together later on. Neat, right? Now we can both be alive and together."

"Reborn? But I just died."

"Speaking of, what happened then? You were Void one moment, then back to yourself the next. I don't like to see you in pain, you know?" Luna walked over and nuzzled Pyro lovingly.

"I don't know. Somehow Void managed to take control of my body and sent me back to consciousness. It was painful," he shivered as his ears drooped and he remembered the event.

"I could tell; and I hated watching it, I'll tell you."

"So... Shall we get going? I'm eager to meet you in our new life," Pyro asked, changing the topic that was threatening to dampen their moods.

"Yeah. Whenever you want to. Just send a thought to Tina and we'll be on our way."

"I'm ready."

"Okay. Farewell, until we meet again, Pyro." She kissed him before fading away and out of existence.

"I guess I should go too. I wonder what's going to happen next?" he said out loud to nobody in particular. _Giratina, allow me to be reborn and fate me to meet Luna once again. That is my final wish in this world before I go_. He started to lose all feelings in his body again, like when he was paralyzed. He knew he was leaving for good now. _Thank you for everything, everyone._

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

"Aqua, are you okay?" Mew asked as she approached the Floatzel. He was staring into his deceased brother's room. Everything was perfect, arranged neatly and not a speck of dust anywhere. It looked like it had every single day. It lacked one thing though: Life.

"Pyro said something before I went in there. He said Void's name when Arno went in," Aqua mumbled back. Tears of anger trickled down his face. "That evil bastard."

"The Psychic guards said that they detected someone in the room once the Dark barrier dropped and raised the alarm. But there was residue dark energy; they, and the cameras, could only gather that it was an Arcanine. A Meowstic teleported in and took the Arcanine away before anyone reached the room," Mew informed, her voice still shaky. "Why would anyone do this?!"

"They're evil. The lot of them. I swear by Pyro's name that I'm going to kill them all..." Aqua muttered.

"Aqua..." Mew said worryingly, "I understand-" Aqua then whipped around to glare at Mew.

"No you don't! You don't understand! I just wanted to have a good life, a happy and peaceful one! That's all I've ever wanted! But all these evil people, these murderers and everything. They've taken everything. They took Pyro, twice, and they almost took Sylvy!" he snapped.

He then turned into his original form and made a move to fly out the room.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to change the world. I'm going to create a new world where there is no violence, no killing, no evil. This horrid world will become a new, ideal world." With that, he flew away. Mew also left the room. That room did nothing but bring back painful memories anyways, a reminder that her mate was dead.

"Luna? Cloud?" she called out, "Children? Where are you?"

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

As he flew out into the main hall, Aqua almost bumped straight into Arno's fluffed-up pelt.

"Sir-" Arno started slightly.

"Arno," Aqua stared right into his eyes, unblinking. An Arcanine, just like that one that killed Pyro. "Did you see who that Arcanine was?" Aqua asked, voice hinting anger seeping into him. "Did you hear him; did you see him? Do you know him or his name?!"

Arno, seeing his master becoming enraged, shivered under his fur. But he maintained his composure. He didn't know much but he knew that he couldn't reveal that his son, Burst, was the one that killed Pyro. Oh, why did Burst have to do that?

"Do you know _anything_ that will hint to his identity or location?!" Aqua practically shouted, startling Arno further.

"N-No, my lord," Arno bowed his head low. Aqua glared at the Arcanine before huffing and making a move to leave. "Sir, may I ask where you are going?"

"Away," Aqua grunted.

"Lord Aqua, I don't think you should-"

"Shut up!" Aqua suddenly whipped around, eyes glowing. His Psychic move threw Arno into the wall with such force that the solid concrete wall dented, pieces crumbling off. After his attack, Arno slumped onto the ground, eyes closed and unconscious. "Don't tell me what to do, Arcanine."

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

"Are you two sure about this?" the Quilava asked.

"Oh, stop being so scared. We need to do this, for Daddy," the little Zorua replied.

"Who're you calling scared?" the Quilava's fur bristled slightly.

"Vulcan, Luna, calm down. It won't do us any good fighting," the third member, a Mew known as Cloud replied.

"Hmph, fine." The Zorua, Luna, looked away from Vulcan and at Cloud instead.

"So, what did Arno say?" Cloud asked.

"Arno said to go look for an Arcanine named Burst, befriend him and bring him back home."

"Shouldn't we have at least told mom though?" Vulcan asked, still nervous.

"Nah, we don't need to. By the way, how long have we been walking?" Luna replied nonchalantly.

"It's been fifteen minutes, are you tired already?" he deadpanned. "Maybe if you're so weak like this, we shouldn't go after all."

"Well, it felt like ages! Okay?!" she retorted, before muttering, "Don't make me bite you."

"Bite me?" Vulcan laughed, "With what, those tiny things you call 'fangs'?" He then dodged Luna, who lunged at him with murder in her eyes. "You're too slow~!" he taunted happily.

"I'll get you someday, don't you worry," she huffed before continuing walking with Cloud, who sighed at their childish antics.

"Say, what about Ren?" Cloud asked suddenly, "You're not going to invite him along with us, are you?"

"Nah, he'll be fine. I told him that I'll be back later."

"He might've took that for a shorter span of time than what you meant," he muttered in reply.

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

Far away, on the other side of the region, three human babies were born. One was a girl, her eyes round and silvery like the moon. Her voice carried to the stars.

The other two were twin boys unrelated to the girl. They were both identical but for their eye colours. One had eyes a rare, yet breath-taking, amber. So bright they were, you'd swear you were looking into an inferno. His thrashed in his mother's arms, crying out with a loud voice.

The other boy had eyes black and deep as the void. His voice betrayed nothing, emotionless, one might say. To to doctors, they might think that he was crying just because his twin was. Nevertheless, the parents felt proud of their children all the same. They would grow up to be such great people.

Unbeknownst to them, they would achieve something far more than they will ever expect:

They will change the world.

* * *

 **Written by ~Wulfy**


	13. Return

Sixteen years have passed, sixteen long years. The three human children were of age now to follow their dreams; they were not bound by law to stay with their parents any more. The brothers were named Altair and Aarick while the girl was named Lucia. And on this fateful day, they would meet.

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

Altair woke up to yet another morning. But this day would be different. Today would be his last day of school he would ever go to. It was the end of the school year; and after today, he, and his brother, would go off to _the_ journey. The journey not many people undergo, due to its dangerous nature. The Pokémon journey.

Since a few years ago, becoming a Pokémon trainer has been on the decline after reports of trainers being mauled by wild Pokémon and trained Pokémon alike. Training, or even being near a Pokémon was becoming more and more dangerous and as a result, minimum age for becoming a Pokémon trainer was raised to 16. Altair himself was bummed out by this change, wanting to go on the journey even though he knew that it was risky and that his parents didn't encourage it. But they didn't discourage it either, they just showed their worry. His brother, Aarick, was indifferent. He didn't really care for much, but he will follow Altair wherever he goes.

Altair had grown up to be a handsome young man, with black hair highlighted with red tips. He liked to wear casual clothes, a tee-shirt, jeans and some trainers. Aarick, however, grew up in a way that could be said to be opposite of his brother. He was a bully in school, though his parents would never admit it. He was the type of kid who would burn ants with a magnifying glass just for the sake of seeing them suffer. It was that type of personality that landed him in a special school that taught manners and good behavior their mother managed to find. It was weird; some of the things there stuck with him while others didn't. Altair thought it was funny, Aarick would wear a suit or formal clothes often, but he would smoke and beat up other people for petty things. Maybe Aarick did drugs, who knows?

"Altair! Aarick! Breakfast's ready!"

Altair stretched and yawned, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He then grabbed the homework from last night (the final homework he'll ever do again!) and stuffed it into his bag. He went downstairs and had a humble breakfast of eggs, bacon and sausage. Aarick wasn't present at the table. Typical, Altair thought. After breakfast, he went back up and got change before throwing the backpack over his shoulder. Walking down the short, narrow hall of his home, he went over to Aarick's room.

Without knocking, he opened the door. Instantly, he recoiled at the sight of the messy room. Books, comics and even a few less-than-appropriate pictures and magazines were sprawled all over the floor, the bed and the wardrobe, mixing in with clothes, clean and worn.

"Next time knock," he heard a gruff voice call out. He saw Aarick standing in front of the wardrobe, just finishing getting dressed. He had slick black hair that complimented his eyes and wore the school uniform and blazer smartly. Aarick patted his pocket briefly, checking that the 'secret' lighter and pack of cigarettes were there. The legal age for smoking was 18, but due to the lack of enforcement of this law, the stores jumped at the opportunity to make some more money by letting anyone interested in buying the products do so with no problems.

"You ready for school?" Altair asked, totally ignoring his brother.

"I don't see what's there to be ready for," his brother replied, throwing his own backpack on and straightening his school tie.

"Come on, it's our last day!"

"Yeah, that means I'll have to make sure some of the kids don't go sayin' something when I'm gone." Aarick often times harass kids for their money. Sometimes they would fight back, only to have their asses beat by Aarick, who've had experience from his fair share of fights with other, older students before.

"You really should stop bullying others. It's not good," Altair said, frowning. They both walked out and headed off to school, which wasn't that far away from home, within walking distance.

"I think being an honor student, top of the class guy like you with all the responsibilities seem pretty boring to me. Plus, it gets me the money." Aarick pulled out a cigarette and lit it up, taking a drag before blowing the smoke out of his nose. "Want a puff?"

"No thanks." Just before they reached the school gates, Aarick threw down the cigarette, stomping it out.

Classes went on as usual, with Altair being praised by different teachers and Aarick being scolded. Nothing was different, save for the farewells and goodbyes at the end of each class. The teachers knew that some of their pupils will be leaving the school for good and wished them the best of luck.

After school, Altair was wandering the school grounds alone, taking in the scenes that he wouldn't see again anytime soon. Ten minutes into his walk, he stumbled upon his brother.

"You're going to tell them, aren't you, you son of a bitch?!"

"N-No-" Altair saw an underclassman being grabbed by the collar by Aarick.

" _No_ , what?!"

"No sir!" the underclassman said shakily. Aarick nodded slightly, dropping the kid and reaching out with an open palm. The kid looked at the palm, then at Aarick. He then understood and slowly reached into his pocket and grabbed some money. Altair took this moment to interrupt.

"You really shouldn't do that." Aarick's whipped around to look at him at breakneck speed.

"Altair! What are you doing here?" he asked, "Anyone see you?" His eyes flashed around, looking to see if anyone else was around.

"I don't mind now; it won't ruin my reputation. Remember? We're leaving," Altair replied. He then looked at the terrified kid. "Run along now."

The kid looked surprised for a moment, then he bowed slightly in thanks towards Altair before scurrying away. Aarick watched this, giving a huff and pulling out another cigarette to smoke.

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

As they walked back towards their home, they passed through a park. It was the same as usual. People were playing with their kids, having a picnic or were just enjoying the beauty of nature. Suddenly, Altair stopped and called out,

"Hey, did you see that?"

"See what?" Aarick grunted back.

"That bush moved on its own!"

"It's probably your imagination or the wind," Aarick countered, starting to walk again.

"No, it's not my imagination. I'm gonna check it out, come with?" Aarick gave a bored sigh and followed Altair as he walked towards said bush. They went through a parting and a few more shrubs. When they reached a clearing and stood up, they saw a girl who looked about sixteen years old with her back to them. However, that was not what grabbed the brothers' attention.

"Holy shit, a cat-girl!" Aarick said, eyes widening as the cigarette dropped from his mouth. "What a find!" The moment he spoke, the girl turned around and slapped Aarick right in the cheek with cat-like reflexes, making him fall down from shock. She made a move to attack Altair to but he put both his hands up.

"I didn't say nothin'," he spoke. The girl lowered her hand before turning to Aarick, who was on the ground groaning.

"I'm not a cat-girl!" she shouted, taking off the animal-eared headband, "And these are fox ears, not cat, you idiot!"

Altair could see that his brother looked a bit disappointed, he had no idea his brother was into that kind of things. But meh, whatever works for him, he thought. He helped Aarick up and looked at the girl more closely. She was surprisingly normal, having long black hair that she let loose and silver eyes. She wore the normal school uniform and as for accessories, she only had a hair ribbon above her ear and the headband she was currently holding in her hand.

"I see you looking me with those eyes, pervert!" she exclaimed, pointing at Aarick, who took a little step back.

"Hey," Altair interrupted, "Let's just all calm down for a second here."

The girl closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths before opening them again.

"My name's Altair," he introduced himself, "And this is my brother, Aarick."

"Lucia," she replied simply.

"Nice to meet you." Altair reached out his hand.

"Whatever," she replied, reluctantly shaking his hand. A few moments passed awkwardly, with neither of them saying anything. Suddenly, Aarick spoke up, which was pretty unusual as he would hardly be the person who initiated a conversation.

"So… What were you doing?" At this, Lucia's eyes widened.

"Shit, I forgot!" She ran past them and into the shrubbery again, with both of them following. Bursting into another clearing, they saw a creature lying on its side on the ground. Lucia took out a few berries from her pocket and carefully fed them to the creature who weakly smiled at her.

"I-Is that, a Pokémon?" Altair asked, excited. During his lifetime he had only seen a few Pokémon due to its rarity in urban areas.

"Yeah, a Houndour. I found him here and I thought a few berries would do him good," she told them. "Isn't that right, little buddy?"

The Houndour gave an affectionate growl and nuzzled her hand as she petted it.

"It's surprisingly… Friendly…" Aarick mumbled. It was true, compared to what stories of violent Pokémon attacks led them to believe.

"Houn! Houn- Houndour!" it barked.

"Hm… I guess I can't really leave you out here. You're hungry and tired, aren't you?" Lucia asked. It nodded in reply. "I guess I can't help it; you'll stay at my home for tonight then. You can be my starter, if you want."

"Starter?" Altair questioned.

"Yeah, you know? Starter Pokémon, first Pokémon, whatever," she replied, thinking Altair was dumb or retarded. What's with these two weirdos?

"Wait, _you're_ becoming a trainer?!" Aarick exclaimed, stunned.

"What?" she turned to them and snarled, the Houndour following suit, "A girl can't become a trainer?"

"Yeah, it's dangerous. No place for a girl like you out there with the wild Pokémon," he replied nonchalantly. Altair looked at his brother worriedly, feeling Lucia would slap him again. That did not happen, however.

"Houndour, tell him," Lucia said. The dog Pokémon suddenly got up, walked over to Aarick, and bit him in the ankle. Aarick gave a yell of pain and shook the Houndour off. The bite wasn't strong enough to pierce the skin but it hurt anyways. "Yeah, I think I'll be a great trainer," Lucia smirked as Aarick fell to his rear, grabbing his ankle.

"Don't you think you've harassed him enough?" Altair asked, still worried for his brother.

"He started it." She picked up the Houndour and kissed its forehead, "Good job." The Houndour gave another affectionate growl. "Anyways, see you around, Altair. Or not."

Altair watched as she walked off, disappearing into the shrubbery, before help Aarick stand up. "Stupid dog," Aarick mumbled as they walked back home.

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

They explained to their mother about Lucia and her to-be starter Pokémon when she asked why Aarick was slightly limping. Thankfully, it was nothing much and they went on with their packing for tomorrow. Their mother, however, wanted to phone Lucia's mother and talk to her for a bit.

"Hello?"

"Yes, is this Lucia's mother?"

"Uh, yes, may I ask who is asking?"

"I'm Altair and Aarick's mother-"

"You are- Oh lord. I'm so sorry about Lucia and her Houndour. I assure you that she-"

"Oh, no. I just phoned to say that it's nothing serious and it's okay!" she laughed slightly. Lucia's mother felt relieved once she heard this.

"Heh, I guess Lucia still has to train her Pokémon some more. I'm a bit afraid for her, they're pretty dangerous, aren't they?"

"Same here, but Altair really does want to be a Pokémon trainer and who am I to stop him, right?"

"Your son wants to be a Pokémon trainer?"

"Yes, both of them. Am I right to say that your daughter wants to be one too?"

"Why, yes! It's been her dream her entire life. She's leaving tomorrow."

"What a coincidence, my sons are also leaving tomorrow too!" she let out another chuckle. An idea suddenly hit her. "Say, if your daughter comes with my sons then that would be a bit safer, wouldn't it?"

"I say, that's not a bad idea. Safety in numbers, am I right?"

"Yes, good, good. It would be best for them. They're all leaving tomorrow anyways so why not?"

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

The next day, Altair woke up all excited and energized.

"Altair! Aarick! Breakfast is ready!" he heard his mother call. He banged the wall separating his room from Aarick's.

"Aarick, wake up!" he shouted before jumping out of bed. He quickly went down to eat breakfast, seeing Aarick groggily drag himself to the dining table. Breakfast was the same, save for the announcement.

"You two have a very big day today." They nodded. "Now, I've spoken to someone and they think it would be a great idea for you two to have someone to travel with." This caught their interest. Someone to travel with? Someone also wants to be a trainer the day after school closes?

"She'll be waiting for you guys at the lab where you'll get your starter Pokémon!" The brothers pondered this. 'She'? Surely it can't be her; It can't be Lucia, can it?

With that thought heavy in their minds, they finished breakfast and went upstairs to get ready. Altair put on his usual casual clothes, smoothing out his hair and putting on a cap backwards. Aarick wore a button-up black shirt with dark cargo pants and trainers. Just before he left his room, he grabbed his last two packs of cigarettes, the lighter and headphones, plugging it into his phone and proceeding to listen to music. Both of them grabbed their travel rucksack and went back down to the kitchen to say goodbye to their mother.

"Remember to call me!" she called out as they finally walked through the front door, embarking on a long journey.

"Will do, Mom!" Altair called back. As soon as they were out of sight from their mother, Aarick started smoking, taking a good long drag. "Do we have to go with someone else?"

"I guess," Aarick replied, blowing smoke above his head calmly, "No reason to go separately when we're all going the same way on the same day."

They reached the lab without seeing anyone out front.

"I guess they aren't here yet."

"Let's get our starter first then." Altair started towards the door, Aarick following behind.

"You get the starter. I don't think I'll be training any Pokémon-"

"Aw come on!" Altair whined, "You're going on the journey anyways! Why not at least get a Pokémon? If anything, for companionship!"

"You just want more Pokémon around you, don't you?" Aarick asked, seeing right through him. Altair laughed sheepishly

"I guess so…" he replied. Aarick sighed.

"Fine, I'll get one."

"Yeah! That's the spirit!" They entered the lab and was greeted by an assistant. They informed the assistant and asked for the professor. He led both of them into the back room of the lab, where they met a middle-aged man with light-brown skin.

"Greetings!" the professor said, "I am Professor Pine! Now, how may I help you?"

"Hello professor. We would like our starter Pokémon please," Altair said.

"Ah! But of course!" the professor suddenly took out multiple trays, each holding 3 pokeballs. "You're lucky. I've just got shipments of starters from all over the world! We've got Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinno, Unova, Kalos and even Alola starters!"

"From all over?!" Altair said, stunned by this fact.

"Yes, from all the regions. Don't ask why," he mumbled the last part. "Anyways! Take your pick!"

It took him a while, mostly deciding between the fire starters. It was a tough choice but he finally took Litten.

"I'll take this one," Aarick said, seemingly bored out of his mind.

"Ah, Litten and Totodile, yes?"

"Yep," Altair replied.

"Is that what's inside?" Aarick asked. "I'll take it anyways."

"Now I'll give you a few things, follow me." They followed the professor back to the main lab part and to his desk. Altair was holding his pokeball carefully while Aarick was tossing it up and down. The professor gave them each a belt that has 2 pouches on one side and 6 clips to attach pokeballs to on the other side. The pouches were filled with an assortment of different items.

"In there will be a pokedex, which gives information and records the Pokémon you see and catch. Five pokeballs each for you and a complimentary potion," the professor informed them. "Be safe!"

"Professor, I believe we have another person joining us, so if you wouldn't mind-"

"Oh, yes! I've heard that there are 3 people going today! Here, take another belt and give it to them, okay?"

"Yes. Thank you, professor!" Altair smiled.

"Think nothing of it. Good luck on your journey, and try not to get hurt!"

They walked outside the lab and halted instantly. In front of them, waiting for someone, was a girl. The girl wore a cat- no, fox ears headband. A little hair ribbon above her left ear fluttered in the wind.

It was Lucia.

She turned and froze when she saw them.

"YOU!" they all shouted simultaneously.

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

"I can't believe I have to travel with you guys," Lucia grumbled for what seemed like the fiftieth time.

"Hey I don't want to either-" Aarick retorted.

"-But common sense, and our mothers, said that we should," Altair finished. Lucia rolled her eyes.

"Great, you guys are finishing each other's sentences now? That's cute," she deadpanned. "By the way, what did you choose as your starter?"

"Oh yeah, that reminds me!" Altair exclaimed. He handed the belt given by the professor to her, "Here's your belt and gear. The professor didn't give me any starters to give to you though…"

"Thanks and that's okay. I already have my starter, remember?" She tossed a pokeball and out came the Houndour from before, who growled at Aarick. "This is the Houndour, remember him? He'll be my starter Pokémon."

"We really should get to know our starters, shouldn't we?" Altair asked his brother, who grunted. They tossed the pokeballs and out came a Litten and a Totodile.

"Mreow," the Litten uttered.

"So you're a Litten, huh?" Altair smiled as he crouched down. The Litten rolled its eyes and meowed. "Hey, don't roll your eyes at me."

"Seems like your pokemon really respects you," Lucia smirked.

"Do you have a name?" Altair ignored her and continued to ask the Litten. It rolled its eyes again. "Right, I forgot, not like you can tell me. Can I call you Amber then? Wait, you are a female right? Nod for yes, shake for no." The Litten gave what seemed like a sigh and nodded. "Right, Amber it is then."

"Classic name." Lucia then threw a pokeball and yesterday's Houndour came out.

"Hey, how'd you get that pokeball?" Aarick asked, confused. Didn't they just give her the pokeballs just a few moments ago?

"Pokeballs aren't just given to you by the professor, duh," it was her turn to roll her eyes. "There's this fascinating system called 'trade' which relies on this thing called 'money'. You may have heard these terms before if you have half a brain."

"Geez, no need to be rude about it, just askin'."

"So…" She, too, crouched down and faced her pokemon. "Can I name you Valery?"

"Houn!" it looked offended and quickly shook its head. Behind her, Aarick cracked up.

"Who's a brainless one now? Even I can tell that your starter is a male, idiot." Lucia silently clenched her fists (not that she could do it otherwise). Deep breaths, deep breaths, Lucia thought to herself, don't kill the fucking asshole.

"Right, how about Fane, then? Is that better?" The Houndour thought for a second before nodding. Lucia smiled, petted him, and stood up.

"So… you naming your Totodile then?" Altair asked Aarick, who was trying to light his cigarette but failing because of the wind snuffing out the lighter flame.

"Dunno, don't really care. How 'bout Chomper or something?" The Totodile, at this, gave a delighted cry and proceeded to bite Aarick's leg. "Aah! Fuck!"

"I can feel that you're already best friends with him," Altair laughed.

"Best friends my ass!" He pulled the crocodile off him, "Off me!"

"So… Are we going or what? We're burning daylight here." Lucia crossed her arms.

"Whatever you wish," Aarick gave a mock bow, "'Your Flatness'."

Altair, a humble observer, could've sworn Lucia's face went red faster than you could say 'run'.

"DIE, you fucking pervert!" Lucia screamed as she chased Aarick. Too bad for her, Altair thought, the one thing Aarick was good at in school was physical education.

* * *

 **Very busy, might not be able to reply to every PM or review. Will try my best.**

 **Written by ~Wulfy**


	14. Young Blood

My, how fast time has passed. I've grown old, but I'm still loyal and still serve the House of Mew. It was weird for the first few months; I, alongside with a few other loyal workers, stayed behind while most of the workers left the mansion. We served the only person remaining: Lady Mew. Lord Pyro was gone. Lord Aqua had disappeared, only to be heard of through rumors of murders in various villages, towns and cities. Sylvy had gone back to live at her home with her family, seemingly with a secret that she kept from everyone here. Ren comes by from time to time, visiting Mew and I for a little talk or perhaps some advice. He also came to us on the day just after he evolved into a Luxio. We, even though we're not his family, were proud of him. As for Luna, Cloud and Vulcan, they had left to find my son. Oh, how I longed to see my son again. Just once more before I die

Lost in my thought, I walked slowly through the garden towards one particular tree overlooking the pond.

"Slacking off?" The Grovyle looked up from his book to greet me. I laughed briefly.

"This old man deserves the break." I grunted as I sat down next to him. That was Gin, the mansion's gardener. He, over the years, grew to be my best friend here. He was the kind of guy you would expect in a rocking chair, next to a fire with a book to read himself to sleep. "How 'bout you? Shouldn't you be trimming hedges or something?"

"I would. But who am I trimming it for?"

"Mew?"

"She doesn't even notice anything anymore, she's delusional. Hell, she's still thinks that she goes to sleep next to Lord Pyro every night."

"If a tree falls in a forest but nobody is there to hear it, does it make a sound? Just because we can't perceive it, does it exist? Maybe Lord Pyro is there in spirit, and only Lady Mew can see or feel him."

"That sounds like something I would preach to the newbies," he smiled. It didn't last long though. "Hold on, are you mimicking me?" I could only grin back at him. "You asshole," he laughed and shoved me lightly.

"How about Luna and Cloud then? Won't they want to come back to a nice-looking home?"

"Them, huh? Not to be a pessimist and all that but… Sixteen years? Has it ever occurred to you that they might… not come back?" he cautiously ventured. I sighed.

"Always the pessimist." I shifted my body and lay down on the cool grass. "Even if they're not. It's all I can do keep my hopes of seeing my son up."

"Your son…"

"We were separated in our home village when he was still a pup."

"What do you mean separated?"

"It's funny actually. Are you familiar with who Void was?"

"If I'm correct, it's the entity slash split personality of Lord Pyro?"

"Yes. He was the one who attacked my village. Razed it to the ground in flames. Killed my mate. Separated Burst and me. I wasn't even sure that Burst was still alive but nobody wanted to stay near the village for any longer than they have to while Void was there. The next time I heard about Burst was on the night of Lord Pyro's death. I had no idea he was alive, but the biggest shock of all?"

"The fact that he was the one who killed Lord Pyro. But for me, I think it's that you actually served Lord Pyro even though you know he's responsible for all that."

"Not really, you know? It wasn't Lord Pyro, but Void. It's too bad you signed up too late to serve under Lord Pyro, if you'd met him then you would know that he himself would do no such thing to those innocent pokemons. I served him partly so that I could keep check on him and how Void is being controlled, really. Though now that I think about it, I can't really do anything to help him and I'll be in danger myself if the monster gets loose." He patted me on the back slowly.

"It's okay, Arno."

"Never mind that. Lord Pyro probably wanted Burst to do what he did, right?"

"Right. There are too many coincidences that night, from what I've heard. All of them could've been caused by him."

"Exactly what I was thinking. I'm just waiting for Burst and the rest to come back one day."

"Always the optimist."

"Hehe, I guess."

"Well," he put down the book. "I guess I should be tending to those hedges."

"And cut the grass too," I added, pawing at the blades in front of me. "They're a bit long."

"Right, that too."

"Need help?" I offered. Instantly, he grinned.

"You know the answer."

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

"Ey, you got that?"

"Yeah, man. Bitch didn't have a lot though," one of the two Ducklett replied. "Couple 'o hundred Poke. Not enough to buy both of us a good meal."

"What a let-down. Thought you were better."

"Chill, yo. I'll just nab another purse, we'll get there."

"I think not," a new voice interrupted their conversation. The two ducks looked up at the stranger, who was perched on a ledge above them.

"Who the fuck is you?"

"Thieves, huh?" the stranger seemed to ignore the question. "I hate thieves. Especially when they steal the lives of innocent pokemon and not just their things."

"Wait a minute. You're-!"

"That's right, scum. I'm your worst nightmare." A Hydro Pump was sent flying their way. The two dodged it relatively easily.

"Heh, so the great killer is just another clichéd hero. Let's see how tough you are, big man!" The white feline, Aqua, braced as the two ducks flew around at incredible speeds. Not long did the Aerial Ace came from both of them. A few cuts appeared on his arms and back as the two slashed at him.

"So legendaries _can_ bleed. So much for omnipotence."

"Underestimating your enemy is one of the worst mistake one can make. For you two, it'll be the last mistake you make!" A rush of wind blew through as Aqua used Fairy Wind, damaging the duo, though not significantly. He followed up with a few rapidly-fired Water Gun, which hit its mark with absolute accuracy. However, that was due to the two not even bothering to dodge the attack.

"Water gun?" one laughed.

"You do know your type matchups, right? They teach you at 'legendary elementary school', right?"

"Oh, don't you worry about me, young'uns. I know my types well. I also know that wet objects tend to conduct electricity well." They stopped laughing at this and narrowed their eyes at the floating feline. At once, they disappeared again.

Aqua threw up a Protect just in time to block the two incoming Wing Attacks. They bounced off but turned around and flew back towards him once more. Seeing as his Protect shield had faded, Aqua grabbed the two Ducklett with his short arm, even though the wings were cutting into his paw.

"Fried duck, yum," he whispered before a strong Thunder attack fell onto him. The electricity conducted through him and electrocuted the two wet ducks, who's typing already made them four times as susceptible to electrical damage. It was no weak Thunder attack used in battles either; Aqua had summoned this move with the intention to kill, infusing it with power that should never be used in normal pokemon battles.

As the two lifeless avians fell from his paws, he quickly shook himself and flew away. "Glad I'm not water-type in this form," he mumbled to himself, looking at a few singed furs.

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

"Morning Sylvy," my sister, one of them, yawned. "What's for breakfast?"

"Morning Icy. Apparently Mom just left some cereal for us, said she gotta go somewhere."

"Is that so?" she tilted her head. "Oh, well. Dad and her are always busy, I gave up on asking where she goes a long time ago."

"Yeah, it's pretty pointless. They never really do tell us anything, do they?" Flare, the eldest brother, entered.

"Cereal? Mm, meal fit for a queen." And that's Shock, the eldest child, with her usual 'morning sarcasm', as we call it. "Where's Flora? And the others?"

"Probably still asleep," I hazarded a guess.

"Espi? Asleep at this time? You wish," Flare scoffed before proceeding to stuff his face full of food.

"At least eat properly, Flare. You're really making me lose my appetite," Icy grimaced. I agreed with her on this one. Flare looked up from his bowl, his muzzle stained white and still dripping with milk and flakes of cereal.

"Geez, no idea we're in a palace dining room, _your highness_."

"It's called table manners, dimwit."

"What'd you just call me?"

"Dimwit. Do I have to repeat myself? Or are you just that much of a _dimwit_?"

"Do I have to remind you that I'm…"

"The second eldest child, older than me or anyone else except Shock. Blah, blah, blah. I've heard it a million times, bro."

"Can you guys ever shut up? It's so early in the morning and you two are arguing again." Umbre entered, yawning loudly.

"Look who's up. Morning, Umbre!" I chirped. He just nodded in reply.

"Where's Mom?"

"Out."

"Figures." He poured himself the cereal and started eating. Properly, might I add, unlike Flare, who was back to chowing down from his bowl.

"By the way, guys," Shock looked up from her bowl, "I think it's high time that we do some house cleaning. It's really starting to get dirty around here, and everywhere else."

"Amen." Flare didn't even look up from his bowl.

"Yeah, I'll do the floors," Umbre mumbled. Expected, really. He volunteers to vacuum the floor every time because it didn't really require standing up on two legs nor much energy.

"I'll do the windows with Phelan," I volunteered.

"You sure? You know it'll be you who does most of the work, right?" Shock asked. Aww, she does care about me. I smiled.

"I think the same applies to any other job, really. But I'll try to get him to work as best I can."

"Whatever floats your boat, Syl."

After breakfast, I went back to my room to wake up Phelan.

"Phel! Time to wake up!" I called, shaking the little Eevee gently.

"Five minutes," he grumbled in reply, batting my paw away from him.

"We have to do some work around the house."

"Make that twenty minutes."

"Now, Phel. Wake up, or I'll get Espi~" I cooed. That got him up in a flash. He jumped straight out of bed, almost knocking me over. I knew he didn't like it when I let Espi scream in his mind to wake him up. I'm surprised he wasn't ready to kill her every time they meet already. But that would break Espi's heart. She (well, everyone, really) loves Phelan here. One young, cute Eevee in a household of Eeveelutions. No; Daddy may be an Eevee but he isn't young and cute and all cuddly like Phel.

"She isn't here, right?" his eyes darted around our room.

"Nope, now come on. Window cleaning time!" I pushed him out of the room.

"I can walk, you don't have to push me, you know?"

"I'll push you all the same. You might run away."

"Mom!" he whined. Yep, cute and whiny little Phelan. My son. I worry about him too much, at least that's what the others say. I mean, his mother's pretty much a disabled Sylveon (maybe that's exaggerating a bit, but I do feel disabled without my ribbons) and he's being raised by a whole bunch of Eeveelutions not that older than him. Well, we are quite a bit older than him but not _that_ much, right? None of us, except me of course, have even found a mate yet. And then there's that thing of not having ever seen his father, Aqua. Oh, poor, poor boy, I'm gonna spoil you so much, hehe. That is, if the others would just stop forcing me not to.

We've had quite fun times with Phelan around. Before he hatched, I had kept the egg a secret, not just from my family, but from just about everyone. I mean, some didn't even know that Aqua and I were mates yet, to spring on them the news of an egg would be too much. I turned out to be quite wrong in that sense. On the day Phelan hatched, pretty much everyone was confused by the appearance of a 'rogue' Eevee in their house.

 **oOoOoOoOoOo**

 _Flashback_

Today was arguably the best day of my life. The egg, which I had kept a secret from my family, finally hatched. I ran into a problem straight away though, I realized that I couldn't keep it a secret, couldn't keep him a secret from the others. Oh, how dumb was I to think that I could keep a child a secret from my family when I am living under the same roof as them. Oh well, better late than never, I guess.

It was in the middle of the night. The rocking and cracking of the egg woke me up. I sat up, staring while the egg formed more cracks. Out tumbled a cute, fuzzy Eevee. He had his eyes closed and was sniffing around, taking in the scents of the new world he had entered.

"Hey there, little guy," I whispered, curling around him. He instinctively nuzzled into my midsection. "Hm… I'm think I'm going to name you… Phelan. Sound good?" He gave a little cry of agreement. I smiled and nuzzled him back. All that fur, it reminded me of when I was an Eevee myself back in the day. It was so tiring to maintain the fur, especially around the collar and on the tail. "Are you sleepy?" All I got back was a little snore from him. How cute. I shut my eyes and soon fell asleep like that.

The next morning, I was woken up by Phelan wriggling around, trying to escape my hug.

"What's wrong, honey?" I asked him. He gave a whine. Guess he can't speak just yet, give it a day or so and he'll probably be able to. He's Aqua's son, after all. "Hungry?" the pup nodded. "All right then, let's go see what's for breakfast." We both stood up and I led the way out of the room, towards the kitchen.

The first pokemon we ran into was Flora, the youngest of us. Poor Flora, he was given quite a shock when he saw Phelan.

"D-Dad?! Did you sh-sh-shrink?!" he asked, bewildered. "Oh no! I-I-I'll get Mom, just wait here. S-Sylvy, you n-need to g-go find s-someone! Someone th-that can help D-Dad!" His stutter got way worse when he was shocked or nervous. He was about to run to get Mommy when I pulled him back.

"Flora, calm down. Dad didn't shrink or anything. This isn't Dad," I explained to him, pushing Phelan between us as he switched his gaze between the shaking Leafeon and me.

"Th-then who's that?!" he finally asked, after about a minute of staring at the confused Eevee.

"Allow me to introduce you to Phelan, my son. Phelan, this is Flora, your uncle, okay?" Phelan nodded at me.

"Your s-son…" With that, the poor Leafeon was out cold, hitting the ground with a thud. Oh, dear, that must've been quite the surprise. Then again, it didn't take much to surprise Flora. We, and by that I mean I, decided that it was in our best interest to leave Flora there and continue on to the dining room. Flora would wake up in a bit.

The next pokemon we met was Umbre, which was quite a surprise actually. He's rarely awake before midday. It seemed that he was heading in the opposite direction to us, probably heading back to his room after a toilet break or something. As we neared each other, we stopped. I decided to let him speak first. But that never came, he stared groggily at Phelan for a bit with his crimson eyes before rubbing them. He then continued on back to his room without exchanging words with us.

"Too early for this kind of crap," he mumbled as we were walking away.

At last, we reached the kitchen where Mommy was cooking breakfast for us. She was humming a little tune while she waited for the toasts to be done.

"Morning, Mommy!" I called out to her.

"Good morning Syl-" her voice died off as she turned around and spot us. "Elric?! What happened to you?! Why- How have you shrunk?!" Phelan gave a squeal and a big smile at the panicked Vaporeon's reaction. The result of which was even more panicking.

"Mommy!" I called out loudly to gain her attention. "This isn't Daddy, this is Phelan."

"Phelan? Who's Phelan?" she finally seemed to calm down, although she was still panting.

"Well, Mommy. Don't pass out from shock like Flora or anything but… Phelan is my son and your grandson." Well, there we go, the big reveal. She teetered on her feet before plopping down to a sitting position.

"I'm sorry, dear. I just need a moment to take this all in."

"Take as long as you like, Mommy. I'll handle the cooking for now." As I went over to overlook breakfast, Phelan sat down opposite Mommy and stared up at her, occasionally letting out a whine or pawing at her.

A few minutes later, I left the cooking station. It can be left there to be heated up while I go back to Mommy and Phelan. I saw Mommy looking at Phelan for a moment before diving into cuddle with him.

"Oh, dear Arceus. Congratulations, Sylvy. You never told me you were going to have a child! I had a feeling that you and Lord Aqua had a thing going on. But a _child_! That, I could not have predicted!" she exclaimed.

"Well… I guess I didn't want to bother you. You were quite busy, weren't you?"

"Yes but family comes first, am I right? And this is a big, big thing!" I laughed slightly, poor Phelan was trying to escape her hug but he wasn't big nor strong enough.

Breakfast went uninterrupted, with me feeding Phelan and Mommy just observing us while eating her own food. Nobody joined us, which wasn't all that weird seeing as it was still quite early. The funniest thing, though, happened when we were leaving. Phelan was in front of me and he was just about to exit the room when Daddy appeared. Both Eevees stared at each other, the archway between them. To Daddy, it must've seemed like he was staring at a smaller reflection of himself.

After a few moments of staring and moving his limbs to see if the other Eevee moved his, he finally called out. "Valerie?"

"Yes, Elric?" came the reply of Mommy from inside the kitchen.

"I think we need to call security. Uh, there's a strange Eevee inside our house?"

"Oh, that's no strange Eevee, dear. That's your grandson!" came the calm reply. This froze Daddy for a second. He blinked a few times.

"Say what?" he called back.

"I said that's our grandson."

"Uh… Adopted?" A gasp came from the kitchen, followed by stomping. Mommy stormed over and she did not look happy. I stepped aside for her, as did Phelan.

"Elric! How could you say such a thing to Phelan?!"

"Phelan? Who's Phelan?" Wow, same reaction as Mommy. I can see why you two are together, Daddy.

"Phelan! Sylvy's son, y'know?" she replied, pointing to us. Phelan suddenly reached out and pawed at Daddy's nose, feeling his face and muzzle. Daddy recoiled a few steps back.

"You mean, _our_ Sylvy's?"

"Of course! Why are you so thick sometimes?" Mommy stormed off, not waiting for a reply from Daddy."

"I'm sorry dear!" he called after her, before turning to us. "So… Um… Sylvy, how's life?"

"It's good, like, really good! Phelan hatched last night and yeah! Getting to know everyone. I'm sure he'll love everyone, including you, Daddy.

"Wow… I have a grandchild," he murmured to himself whimsically.

"Yep!" I replied.

"Well, congratulations, Sylvy. I'm not going to ask you why you kept it a secret because I know you had your reasons. What I'm going to say is this: You have to be responsible now, okay? You're a parent, and trust me, it is one of the most stressful job you'll ever have, raising a child. Of course, we'll all be here for you for support, but it is you who is uh… Phelan's mother."

"Of course, Daddy. Thanks!"

"Anytime, my sweet little girl!" and with that, he went passed us to the kitchen. Phelan and I then headed back to our room.

News spread fast. And by midday, everyone (except Umbre, who was still asleep) knew about Phelan and came to flock outside my room. I told them to go away, though, as Phelan was having a nap and it would break my heart to wake up the adorable little Eevee from his nap. Yep, just looking at his sleeping face brightens my day that much more. Best day ever!


	15. The Other Side of the Coin

**Beta-read by drunkenturtles**

* * *

Run away.

Everyone seemed to be shouting those words. The whole village was in disarray; Everyone was running everywhere, shouting everything. I couldn't discern anything but those two words; my ears hurting from all the shouting. From nowhere, a column of flame lit up the night sky, setting one of the houses ablaze. I was hanging limp from my father's maw, who was carrying me away alongside my mother. Having just woken up, my senses were still quite dull but there was no mistaking the sheer panic everyone was feeling.

What was going on?

I heard a house behind us collapse, a deafening sound that was drowned out by even more screams. From somewhere, I heard a villager Pokémon ask,

"What's going on?!" I strained my ears to listen for the reply, but could only catch snippets of it due to being carried away through the winding path in the village.

"Legendary- Berserk… This is mad… Killing… Run!" With only these few words, I couldn't fully piece together what was going on but I think I've got the gist of it.

"Dad? What's going on?" I asked my father.

"Don't worry, honey, everything will be all right," my mother replied, seeing that my father was preoccupied with carrying me in his maw.

Just as we were approaching the village gates, a Pokémon appeared in front of us from darkness. How it seemingly appeared out of nowhere was beyond me, but I suspect it was due to the pitch-black fur covering its body. Its pure black eyes almost blended in with its fur but still seared into my memory along with its long tail whipping behind it. The shadowy aura behind it was unmissable though, darker than the night sky and flickering like flames. Its grin spread from ear to ear, showing the monster's sadistic joy.

"Think you can get away from _me_?!" its unique, tri-toned voice asked. It need not shout, yet its voice carried over the screams from other villagers. My parents, the moment they heard it speak, did not hesitate a moment and ran the opposite way, back into the village to find another way out. As my father, carrying me, sprinted, the creature flew at a leisurely pace alongside us, having no trouble catching up whatsoever. "Hellooooo~" it taunted.

My parents then used Extreme Speed and sprinted around the corner, temporarily losing the black feline as we ran into an intersection.

My father suddenly tossed me into the air. I felt the sense of weightlessness and confusion before I was caught by my mother, still running. I looked back and saw my father split off and run down the other path, perhaps to confuse the creature.

Too bad it didn't work.

The creature zoomed right past the intersection and down our path. I saw it smile wickedly.

"As if I'm going to fall for that. I guess desperation makes everyone dumb." It flew straight towards Mom, who dropped me. I remember the sharp, dull pain from falling rear-first onto the ground.

"Run! Get away, Burst!" she yelled at me with all her might before turning to glare at the creature. "And don't look back," she muttered just loud enough for my ears to pick up.

Perhaps it was because she knew she couldn't win. Perhaps it was because she knew it was the best way. Perhaps she didn't know what to do. My mother ran towards the creature without taking any time for some kind of preparation for battle, quite the opposite of what they taught me all this time about how preparing before a fight is the most important thing. I could only watch for a moment before obeying her and turning around to run.

Somewhere, anywhere. That was where I ran towards. Behind me I heard a scream; there was little doubt that it was Mom's. Resisting the urge to look back, I heard the monster's voice yell out, "What the-?! Get the fuck off me! GET THE FUCK OFF ME!"

"Never… I won't let you go… I won't let you… get him." That raspy voice, it could only be my mother's voice referring to me. I don't know how I knew that since it was so different from the warm, soothing voice she always had. Suppressing my thoughts, I ran with all my might, faster than I've ever ran before. Somewhere, anywhere.

I soon came upon the village's eastern gate, which seemed deserted for some reason. Was it because everyone had fled already or were they caught? No matter, all I kept in mind was I needed to go through the gate and away from here. Then I can wait for my parents to find me so we can be together again. I sprinted towards the gate.

Smack. I recoiled quite a bit away as I seemed to have ran into what felt like a solid wall. I looked ahead and froze. The creature was there again, looking at me. I wanted to scream, I wanted to shout, I wanted to bite him… but I could do no such thing. My body seemed to have frozen stiff even in the heat of the flames from the burning houses behind me.

The pungent smell of ammonia then wafted around. He and I both looked towards the same place, a growing puddle of yellowish liquid underneath me. I whimpered. The fear I felt seemed to have weakened my bladder and, well…

He snorted and suddenly, to my surprise, flew away. It was not until a few moments later that I regained control over my body and ran straight through the gate into the forest beyond.

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

Wake up, Burst.

I jerked awake and looked around. What greeted my sight was a shoddy wooden room and a male Meowstic.

"You still sane? Seemed like a pretty bad nightmare to me." Asshole, he probably probed my mind again.

Oh, right, I haven't introduced him yet. The guy calls himself 'D.C.' but he never mentioned his actual name. Nevertheless, he told me to call him Big Daddy D and obviously, I outright rejected that and opted to just calling him Dee. He was the perky kind of guy who seems to always be up to something. Given his ability as a Psychic-type, I wouldn't put it past him to have some kind of prank planned through reading minds or telekinetically controlling objects. Even so, I like to think that we got along together well.

"Same one, you'd think I'd be used to it by now."

"No one would ever be used to that; you know? No matter how strong they are mentally." He knows my past all right. Down to the last detail I remember. It was probably because he knew that he became my friend and accomplice in tracking and killing that monster from all those years ago. "Anyways, what's on the agenda today?"

"I was thinking of just relaxing and having a tour around this town," I replied, still a bit sleepy. Maybe all that running made me tired, even if it was in a dream.

"Oh-ho! Are we actually staying here for a second night then?" He grinned. I understood how he felt, anybody would be tired after running from town to town for years. Staying for another night or two couldn't hurt, right? We've been running more than half our life now, we earned this.

During the walk, I heard many rumours and stories from various others. This wasn't out of the ordinary of course, everyone loves to talk and gossip, and this was a market as well. Storeowners with nothing to do other than tend to their goods always like a good chat with their customers. What stood out was a certain rumour that made my ear twitch. It went something like this:

"Have you heard? Sonizor's been ripped apart by _him_. They say that they couldn't find any survivors at all."

"Uwaah, a whole city with Pokémon _and_ humans? That's a first."

The whole city? No way. It was usually just one or two Pokémon, isn't it? Why would Aqua kill off the whole settlement?

"Maybe his delusion is getting worse?" Dee answered. Damn it, did he read my mind again? "Yes, I did indeed."

"I told you to stop it. I don't like having my privacy invaded," I growled at him.

"Hey, I'm the only one crazy enough to follow you around. At least let me know what's going on in your mind so I know what's going on." I sighed, he had a point. "I sure do."

"Can you at least not read my mind constantly?"

"It's hard to do when your mind is just so full of fun stuff!" he laughed.

"What does that even mean?"

"Ooh, you don't know what you're thinking most of the time?" he snickered, "This is very fun indeed."

"Just quit it."

"Want me to tell you what you're subconsciously thinking?"

"I don't need you to tell me what I'm thinking."

"Just a little hint then. It's a lot to do with that Lycanroc we passed not too long ago. She's quite pretty, isn't she?" He then howled in such laughter I never would've thought a feline like him could manage. Thankfully my face was quite covered in fur so he couldn't see my face flush. I didn't have any thoughts to do with that light-brown wolf now, did I? No, it must be him just messing with me. "I can tell you for certain that you did think of her, I didn't make that up."

"You totally made that up."

"Say what you want, you can't lie to yourself."

After that exchange, we fell into a comfortable silence. Walking around the marketplace looking at various wares and listening to conversations. One could say we're eavesdropping on others but truthfully, I don't see how you can avoid hearing snippets of discussions here and there in a public place like this.

My mind wandered back to the last topic. A female, huh? I've been on the run for so long I've never considered settling down. Is it about time to find somewhere where I can call home? Maybe have a house of my own, a mate, a few little cubs that would call me 'daddy'… My train of thought was cut off as I heard another snicker beside me. Heat rose up in my chest and to my face. No doubt he was reading my mind again. It really is disturbing to have someone read your mind constantly, I tell you.

"Come to think of it, what about you, Dee?"

"Whatever do you mean?" he asked innocently.

"C'mon, you can't say that you aren't tired of moving to a new city every day or so."

"True, it does get quite tiring always being on the move. But I do get to see new sights every day so I can't really call it 'boring', you know what I mean?" he tossed his innocent face away and sat down on the bench we just happened across, looking up at the sky. Getting tired myself, I sat down next to him.

"Yeah, but you know we can't really travel forever. One day we'll have to settle somewhere for some reason or another."

"Man, you really are desperate for that girl, aren't you? Finding reasons to stay." He shot me a sly grin.

"It's nothing like that," I muttered quietly, "I think."

"If you want to stay in this town forever then just say so! I'm happy being anywhere."

"I'll admit that I can't imagine you staying in some place for the rest of your life."

"Yeah, but if I do, I'd like to imagine myself as that crazy uncle in the family nobody knows about," he answered, chuckling slightly.

"Now that I can imagine you being," I joined in his chuckling.

"I'm talking about being the uncle to your kid." With that comment, we lapsed into another silence.

"So…" I started the conversation back up.

"Yeah, if that's what you want then we'll stay here," he seemingly read my mind. No, he probably actually did. "And what about it? Maybe we can get you and that Lycanroc together, huh?"

"I told you, it's not like that."

"My, you're quite the _tsundere_ aren't you? 'It's not like that. I don't love her or anything like that!'" he mocked, "You know, it's usually the girl that has that attitude, not the guy. Or are you actually more feminine than I thought you are?"

"Wh-what are you talking about?!" Feminine?! Of course not, I'm a male through and through. And what's a 'tsundere' anyways?

"Tsundere means you act like you don't like her at first then pretty much fall head over tails for her. At least, from what I remember, that is."

"I am not a tsundere."

"Ah, denial. I like it."

"Just shut up, Dee."

"Fine, fine," he said casually. "Say, let's go into that cafe over there, I'm hungry."

I agreed, it was about midday anyways. We entered the shop and went to sit down. "No, you take this seat." He steered me away and to the other end of the table. Not knowing what was so different, I followed his instructions anyway. Just as we were waiting for someone to tend to us, I looked around. What greeted me almost made me choke on thin air. Across the shop, past the Meowstic's widening grin was a wolf. Mainly light-brown and white in pelt with stunning blue eyes.

"Y-you…" I glared at Dee. His grin widened to a snarky smirk.

"C'mon. The sooner the better. Go talk to her, I'll wait here at the table." He tapped the table slowly, shifting his gaze from me to the Lycanroc, who had just finished her meal, behind him. "Oh, by the way, she doesn't like tough, buff guys; she seems to like the strong but slightly timid kinds more. So don't worry about showing your feminine side but keep it in check, okay?"

I shot another deathly glare at him but he brushed it aside. For reasons unknown, my body moved on its own accord and stood up. I couldn't stop myself as my legs carried me towards her. Was this Dee's psychic powers influencing my body? No, I doubt he can do that without me outright noticing. Does that mean that I'm going to her on my own accord? The wolf looked up towards me as I approached her.

"Hello," she said in a voice that could only be described as angelic.

"Uh… Ah… Hi." And I replied like a bumbling idiot.

* * *

 **{A/N} Sorry for not having uploaded anything in the past months. It has been very busy right now as I am starting preparations for final exams and choosing universities and all that. I will not lie, writing does not hold too high a priority in my life right now compared to other things going on. Nevertheless, I will still try my best to chuck out new content when I can.**

 **Oh, and thanks to those who I had a few chats with over the past few months (drunkenturtles, AGuyWithNoSKills). That really helped me control my stressful life and helped me relax quite a bit. Probably not too much of a stretch to say that this chapter is only possible because of them.**

 **See you in the next chapter!**

 **~Wulfy :3**


	16. Fateful Encounter

"Phel! Time for school!" Sylvy cooed, nudging her son.

"Ten minutes, Mom."

"Not ten minutes, Phel. Now." The drowsy eevee grunted in reply.

 _"Wake up! It's time for school!"_ came a screech in his mind. He yelped loudly and jumped awake. In front of him was his mother and Espi. He groaned.

"Why did you have to do that?"

"Because you wouldn't wake up, that's why." They both smiled. He groaned again and slowly moved to the bathroom for a shower.

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

"Alright kids! We have a new student here!" his teacher announced, presenting the furret to the rest of the class. The furret shyly waved before looking back down again. "Come on, introduce yourself," the teacher encouraged.

"I-I'm Apalis."

"Nice to meet you, Apalis. I'm sure you're going to have a great time here with everyone!" She then showed him to his seat and got on with class. Phelan grinned to himself. _You can never go wrong with shy people_.

 **TTTTTTTTTTTTTTT**

Later, I had an argument with some kid. I think it was over something trivial so don't mind it. I spied Apalis on the sidelines, watching us argue with a nervous disposition as if he was scared that he would be reprimanded along with us.

"C'mon, even Apalis agrees with me, right?!" I suddenly dragged him into the spotlight with this claim, knowing that he did not actually know what we were talking about. In fact, it was his ignorance to the topic that I called over to him.

"Uh... Ah…I-I-" he stuttered. I could tell how scared he was, stuck under the harsh gaze of the kid I'm arguing with and my own. I sent him a subtle wink. "Y-yeah. I'm w-with Phelan on this..."

"Told you!" I exclaimed snobbishly. He just bared his fangs but didn't do anything.

Later that day, I just finished helping out the teacher. "Miss! Where should I put these?" I asked her, pointing to the little pile of papers on the ground.

"Oh, Phelan! I'll take it from here, thank you very much! You're such a good boy!" she smiled, petting my head extensively. I smiled at her. This is almost too easy; I've got all of them fooled.

As I walked away, my stomach grumbled. Ahh, so hungry. Lunch break is almost over, too. I walked around and found the same kid I argued with earlier. He was halfway through his lunchbox and was chatting with two of his friends. I spotted an opportunity.

"Hey!" I greeted all of them as I approached. "I'm hungry, do you think you can spare a bit of that?" I asked him, gesturing to the lunchbox. His eye twitched.

"Get your own!" he snapped. His two other friends looked a bit scared though. I guess they know about me, that's great. I sent the three of them what I found out from others was a sinister grin.

"Hey. I think you can spare some, right?"

"Yeah. I really think you should share some with Phelan, Bren. I mean, he does look hungry, doesn't he?" His two friends encouraged him nervously.

"What are you two saying?! I'm not sharing my lunch with a guy like him! Plus, my mom made me all my favorites today!"

The two friends gave me a pitiful, defeated smile that seemed to say to him _'We don't know this guy. Don't group us with him, please'_.

"Fine then," I replied calmly. He smiled triumphantly, painfully oblivious of what was going to happen to him. Heh, let this be a warning to you.

Later that day, I grabbed Apalis and we went round to the back of the school where nobody really goes.

"Um… Phelan? What a-are we doing here?" he asked meekly.

"Tackle me."

"Wh-what?" he looked horrified at the thought. I gave him an encouraging smile.

"Don't worry. Just tackle me. Hard as you can."

"But- But- But the school rules-"

"It's fine, Apalis. Just do it." He murmured an apology before charging straight at me. We weren't that far apart, about two lengths of his body from each other, but his attack seemed slow. Pitifully slow. I didn't know whether it was due to him being  
reluctant to attack me or he was just that slow.

As expected, it didn't really hurt. Then again, I have little battle training sessions with uncle Umbre at night and uncle Flare in the morning every weekend. That may have been the main reason that Apalis's attack, which probably had been used only a  
few times in his life so far, was rendered almost totally ineffective.

He shook his head quickly and backed up to look at me. I glanced at him and sent a reassuring smile.

"O-oh, no! Phelan, I'm s-sorry! Please don't g-get me in t-t-trouble!" he panicked as a little bruise started to form on my midsection, where he hit me. Truth is, while it did not hurt, my body was still that of a cub's so it was not as strong and tough  
as uncle Umbre's or whatnot. Therefore, it was no surprise that it would get scratched or bruised because of hits. I laughed lightly at his chuckling.

"Don't worry, Apalis. It doesn't hurt… Not that your attack was weak or anything, I've just had training before." I added the last bit so that he wouldn't think that his attacks were not strong enough to affect me and think negatively. "Well… that's all  
I needed, really. So, thanks and I'll see you later!" I told him before turning to leave, ignoring his confused face.

I stopped just outside the teacher's office. I prepared myself to use the special technique I've concocted up from months of practice. Deep breaths, Phelan, deep breaths. It'll all go just as flawlessly as the previous times.

"Waaah! Miss!" I burst through the door, letting loose quite a few drops of tears, surprising a lot of teachers in the room.

"Phelan!" my teacher looked shocked. "What's wrong!"

"Bren- Bren hit me!" I sniffled a few times for good measure and slipped in a subtle 'Baby-doll Eyes' that nobody knew I had learned. Hearing this surprised her even more before her facial expression became that of pity.

"Let's take a look." I turned my side to her and showed her the little bruise. 'Tackle' is a great move. It's not so strong as to break bones but strong enough to leave a little mark in the form of a bruise. Plus, it's a pretty universal move and most  
species can learn either it, 'Scratch' or 'Pound'; and 'Pound' isn't all that distinguishable from 'Tackle' in terms of marks left by the damage. Anyways, she gasped as she saw the mark. That's when I knew I had her in my paws again and grinned internally.  
"That's unacceptable. I'll need to talk to him right now."

Not long after, we found ourselves in a room with just Bren.

"Do you have anything to say, Bren?" she asked him strictly.

"I don't know what you're talking about, miss," he replied innocently, oblivious to the reason he was called by the teacher.

"Feigning ignorance will not get you anywhere, young man. I know that you bullied Phelan this morning." I gave a little sniffle and smiled smugly from behind her back, aggravating him.

"But- But I didn't do anything!" he sputtered.

"This is unacceptable, Bren. Bullying your peers is one thing, but to lie about it in front of a teacher when the proof is plain to see is a whole different thing. I will have to speak to your parents about this. Now, I think it would be prudent for you  
to apologize to poor Phelan for behaving in that way." He hesitated for a bit, probably disgusted at the thought of apologizing to me.

"I'm _sorry_ ," he grumbled through gritted teeth. The teacher didn't seem to approve of this as an apology but said nothing and dismissed us both. Bren stormed away from me the instant we left the room while I leisurely strolled the other way, sending  
Apalis, who was most likely eavesdropping earlier, a smile and a wink . Along the way, I heard Bren'stwo friends speak to each other from the empty classroom next door.

"I feel sorry for him. Maybe we should've told him about Phelan earlier."

"Yeah. Hope Phelan didn't take it too far this time."

I let loose another grin to myself. Obviously, I was pretty popular around here, but not for good reasons. I was infamous.

 **oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

Damn, my hair's all tangled up again. I swore under my breath and took off my headband and ribbon so that I could straighten it with my fingers.

"Need help?" I turned around and stared at the approaching figure, making my little accessory bag fall from my lap. Why was he still up at this time of night? "Aarick's asleep already. You tired him out all right."

"His fault," I replied simply. The pervert was teasing me about my slightly-less-than-average-sized chest again. _Slightly_. I mean, it'll grow more, right?

"Don't take it to heart. I'm sure he's just bored." The pervert's twin told me while smiling.

"Come to think of it, are you two even real twins?"

"What do you mean by that?" he asked as he sat down next to me.

"You two are so different from each other. I mean, he's an asshole while you're so much kinder and nice." I suddenly blushed, realizing what I had said. "I- I didn't mean it that way. I just mean that you're… You're better than him in terms of personality  
and not so much of an asshole."

"I'll… take that as a compliment?" he laughed awkwardly and we lapsed into an overwhelmingly awkward silence while I tried to untangle my hair and failing. "Want me to help you?"

"Um…" I fidgeted with the bag on the floor next to me, considering his proposal. It didn't seem like a ploy to embarrass me or a trick or anything. Is it safe to trust him? "Fine…" I mumbled after I made up my mind. I took out a few combs and brushes  
and laid them down on a flat rock next to me. He laughed nervously as he saw them.

"I must warn you though. I've never done this before."

"D-don't worry. It's the first time I let a boy do it. I'll tell you what to do, I guess." I turned my back to him and fiddled with the soft furry ears on the headband in my lap. A few seconds later, I felt the presence of a brush on my hair and a sharp  
pain. "Ow! Stop, stop! You use your fingers first, it loosens it up and makes it easier for you and less painful for me," I instructed him.

"O-oh." He put the brush back down and then ran his fingers through my long hair. I had to suppress a shiver down my spine. It felt really different from when my mom does it for me. Having a boy do it feels… what do you call this feeling? Embarrassing?  
Awkward? Downright degrading?

"Now you can use it," I said quietly, barely louder than a whisper. He picked up the brush and ran it through my hair again. Although easier, it still ripped a few strands of my hair from my head.

"Ow! Wrong one! Wrong one!" I whipped around, grabbed the brush he was holding and switched it with the other one on the rock. "Use that one," I mumbled quietly. He seemed more confused than ever at the complexity of brushing a girl's hair. Well… he's  
a boy so he wouldn't really understand it, I guess. I wasn't mad at him or anything. Contrariwise, I found his ignorance oddly cute.

 **TTTTTTTTTTTTTTT**

Meanwhile, I had just woken up in the middle of the night.

"Huh? 'Tair's not asleep yet?" I whispered to myself as I spotted the empty sleeping bag next to me in the tent. Outside, I could hear two distinct voices. Must be him and Lucia. What're they talking about? I stopped moving and breathed shallower in order  
to hear them both better.

"I must warn you though. I've never done this before."

"D-don't worry. It's the first time I let a boy do it. I'll tell you what to do, I guess."

Oh shit, I thought, they're at that stage already? Wow, who knew 'Tair had the hots for that beast of a girl.

"Ow! Stop, stop! You use your fingers first, it loosens it up and makes it easier for you and less painful for me." Lucia exclaim. Wow, real smooth, Altair. Not a great start to losing your virginity. I couldn't hear what they said next but the next thing  
I heard was her exclaiming.

"Ow! Wrong one! Wrong one!" Reeeeal smooth, bro.I know it's dark and everything, but you seriously put it in the wrong hole?

Part of me started to feel aroused but the other part was a bit disgusted. I'm listening to my twin have sex with a girl we know!

And as such, I did what anyone would do. I ignored the disgusted feeling and slowly took out my phone. Slowly, silently unzipping the tent flap, I crawled out of the tent and saw two silhouettes behind a line of bush, next to where they set up a campfire  
earlier that evening. Wow, so that's why he got it wrong. Altair's doing it from behind. I placed the phone on the ground, facing them, and pressed record on the camera/video recorder app.

Hold on a minute. Isn't this the point where another guy joins in and they have a threesome? Yeah, I see it in so many of the videos and doujinshi. Fuck it, I can't have him losing his virginity before me for longer than a day. Standing up, I abandoned  
all notions of stealth and walked towards them.

"Yo, 'Tair! Let me fuck her too!" I called out before freezing. The first thing I noticed was that they were clothed. That means that either they were very self-conscious or they were not having sex. It was too late, though, to stop those words from leaving  
my mouth. What _were_ they doing?

"Hold these," she told Altair in a cold, steely voice and threw her signature headband and ribbon for him to hold before grabbing something from her hair and stomping hither. Shit, this is the part where she beats me up, isn't it? I'll have to make sure  
to delete the video on my phone later…

Altair didn't say anything but a fiery blush on his face was visible even in the dark of night.

 **TTTTTTTTTTTTTTT**

What did Aarick mean by that? I pondered. Did he think Lucia and I were a couple or something? I shook my head. No, that's impossible… Or was it?

Aah, I need to cool my head. Lucia had gone to sleep in her tent and 'Rick had dragged his battered body back into our tent. I looked around and spotted a little hill nearby. It was pretty clear with no trees on it save for one at the very top. Looks  
like a nice place to relax. I made my way up the shallow, bare hill. It wasn't clear at first, but it soon became apparent that I wasn't the only one who seemed to think that the hill was a nice place to sit down and relax.

 _Under the clear, starry night sky, I met her and my fate started to change._


End file.
